Shropshire in the middle of petrol price divide

Drivers seeking the cheapest petrol are suffering a north-south divide, with drivers in Shropshire caught in the middle, an AA fuel price report revealed today.

Motorists in the south are faring the worst at a time when the average price of a litre of petrol has fallen from an all-time high of 121.6p in mid-May to 118.08p now, the report said.

In some areas supermarket petrol is as cheap as 114.32p per litre.

But elsewhere there can be large disparity in prices in neighbouring towns, the AA said.

But large areas of south-east England and the rural Midlands, including Shropshire, have supermarket petrol currently priced at 119.9p.

In Shrewsbury the highest price for a litre of diesel stands at 124.9p while petrol peaks at 119.9p, falling in other parts of the town to 113.9p for unleaded and 116.9p for diesel.

In Telford, the highest fuel prices are 119.6p for a litre of petrol and 121.9p for diesel. But in some areas of the town prices drop to 113.9p for unleaded and 116.9p for diesel.

Cheapest

Overall, the average price of diesel has fallen from a high last month of 123.08p a litre to 120.52p, with the cheapest supermarket diesel found at Asda with prices at 117.32p.

Taking all fuel-selling outlets into account, the cheapest petrol at the moment can be found in Yorkshire and Humberside with unleaded at 116.8p a litre, and the dearest in London where the cost per litre stands at 119.3p.

Yorkshire and Humberside also has the cheapest diesel at 119.5p a litre, with Northern Ireland having the most expensive at 121.3p.

AA president Edmund King said: "Wholesale petrol prices tumbled from around 40p a litre in early May to around 36p by May 24.

"Although Asda and Morrison largely passed on the entire saving, other supermarkets have been much more selective as to which customers are enjoying the full respite from record high prices."

He added: "With oil prices back above 75 dollars a barrel, we are expecting wholesale prices to rise again - which only makes the failure to pass on cost cuts all the more galling."

By Ben Bentley