By Louise Barnett Consumer Editor MOTORISTS will be forced to pay an average £84 to fill up their cars when fuel hits a predicted £1.50 per litre.
Fuel is already at a 20-year high and more price hikes are yet to come, experts warn.
Diesel surged to more than 120.17p per litre yesterday while unleaded hit an average 109.95p – only just shy of £5 a gallon.
The soaring prices last night prompted calls for the Government to help struggling drivers by cutting fuel duty.
British motorists will spend more than £81billion on petrol next year of which £51billion will go to the Treasury via taxation, price comparison website uSwitch warned.
Petrol has jumped from just 93.98p per litre a year ago. Diesel has risen from 95.81p.
Price comparison website petrolprices.com yesterday showed maximum prices of 132.9p per litre for diesel and 119.9p for unleaded.
It has warned that unless conditions change, average prices will continue to climb to £1.50 per litre for unleaded.
That equates to an average annual petrol bill of £2,637 – which is more than 14 per cent of an average net annual salary of £18,083.
uSwitch’s Ann Robinson warned that the £1.50 litre could prove too much for some drivers.
“Unfortunately the outlook for drivers is bleak. This latest blow could be enough to force some drivers off the road altogether,” she said.
“Cash-strapped consumers are juggling price increases across all fronts.”
Petrol prices had rocketed by 216 per cent since 1988, she added.
Calls for a reduction in fuel duty and VAT came in the wake of massive £7.2billion profits announced by oil giants Shell and BP yesterday, for the first quarter of this year alone.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has said a 2p hike in fuel duty will take effect in October – an increase postponed from April.
AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “The Government has also enjoyed a windfall from high oil and fuel prices, and October’s increase in fuel duty must not go ahead.” TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott called for the planned fuel duty hike to be scrapped.
“The Government are profiteering from high fuel prices, and causing serious misery as they do so,” he said.
According to accountants Grant Thornton, the price rises are generating an extra £123million per month for Government coffers.
RAC Foundation spokesman Rodney Kumar echoed calls for the Government to freeze duty.
“We would like to see the motorist being given a bit of a break at this time.
“We would like to see the Government lay off the motorist for a while,” he said.
British motorists currently pay an average £71 to fill a tank – up 25 per cent on last year.
A petition on the Downing Street website calling for a fuel duty cut has attracted more than 5,000 signatures. Its creator Richard Mason criticises current UK fuel prices as “simply ridiculous” and blames the Government for high fuel taxes.
“The current cost is unsustainable to the average family,” Mr Mason said.
uSwitch said that further fuel hikes would pile fresh pressure on householders already buckling under average bill rises of £1,783 this year. Energy bills have soared by around 15 per cent since January while food inflation is adding an extra £780 to a family’s annual grocery bill.
Speaking about the fuel price rises, petrolprices.com’s Louise Doherty said: “Obviously that is a disaster for motorists and the economy in general because higher fuel prices drive inflation.”
uSwitch said that higher petrol prices next year would add £18 to the cost of filling a Ford Fiesta’s tank. Owners of luxury cars such as the Mercedes C Class or equivalent will fork out an extra £24.
Countryside Alliance communications head Jill Grieve warned: “The hardworking workforce in the countryside, the elderly and the isolated are being increasingly marooned, unable to go out, because fuel prices are too high.
“Social lives in the countryside, the economy and the fabric of the countryside itself are under a very real threat.”
• Motorists filling up with diesel may increasingly use a small amount of biodiesel in their cars.
Biodiesel was created to be a less-polluting fuel.
It is generally made from plants such as rapeseed and sunflowers.
Diesel can currently contain no more than 5 per cent biodiesel by law. However, the EU is looking into lifting limits.
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