Fuel retailers accused of hiking profits as drivers face new record high prices

Fuel retailers have been accused of exploiting hard-pressed motorists by extending their profits as petrol and diesel prices soar.

As diesel hit a new record high this week and petrol edged closer to its all-time peak, the RAC has said filling station operators are making even bigger profits than before the fuel duty cut was announced.

Its analysis of fuel margins shows that retailers are making an extra 2p per litre compared with mid-March, before Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut 5p per litre from fuel duty.

Their margins are now 11p per litre for petrol and 8p for diesel, where in the month before the duty cut, they were 9p and 6p respectively.

The RAC’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams said it meant drivers were being denied potential savings and warned that the volatile price of oil made even more price rises inevitable.

The figures have prompted a warning from the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng that forecourt operators must remember their responsibilities to treat customers fairly.