Holiday drivers face a £2m rise in fuel bill
The AA has warned that the fuel bill for holiday drivers in the UK could increase by £2m in the coming days.
It estimates that 20.7 million staycations journeys could take place this week, with 1.3 million of them over 300 miles.
Based on a 5p-a-litre increase in petrol from 150.7p a litre on 6 July to 155.5p, the average price of a 300-mile trip has gone up from £45.66 to £47.12. That means the 1.3 million motorists driving over 300 miles will pay a combined £61.3m on fuel compare to the £59.4m they would have paid in early July.
Luke Bosdet, the AA spokesman on pump prices, said: “This is a bitter blow for the second wave of summer holiday road travellers, and it doesn’t look as if it will get any better soon. Petrol peaked at 159.7p in late May and more than half of the early summer pump savings are already gone. Diesel reached 192.4p in mid April, and business is desperately hoping the average pump price won’t get that bad.
“A couple of pieces of good news are that pump prices at some notoriously expensive motorway service areas still remain lower than the worst showing earlier this year, now a shade below 182p a litre for petrol as opposed to just below 185p at Easter.”
