MOTORISTS have dodged a massive fuel hike at the pumps this Christmas – but new figures show festive trips will still cost an extra quid a tank.
Petrol prices have crept up 2.5p a litre since October, hitting 136.5p this week, while diesel has soared nearly 4p to 142.7p.
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If fuel duty had been hiked, as feared in the October Budget, the average petrol price would have rocketed to 142.5p – smashing pre-pandemic records.
The figures by the AA also showed diesel drivers would also be coughing up nearly 148p a litre, the worst since 2012.
The Sun’s “Keep It Down” campaign alongside FairFuelUK has pressured ministers to keep fuel duty frozen for more than a decade.
But the AA insisted drivers are still being squeezed as fuel companies add extra costs, even though wholesale prices haven’t moved much.
AA President Edmund King said: “Freezing fuel duty in the Budget is a decision the Chancellor definitely got right.
“On top of the added financial burden loaded on families and poorer drivers who rely on their cars for work and other essential trips, pumping up fuel duty would have made inflation worse as the vast majority of goods and services are delivered by road.”
“However, the boos and hisses reserved for pantomime villains are beginning to be heard for the fuel trade as it loads more on to the cost of road fuel when wholesale price movements don’t support it.
“No doubt higher electricity costs will be given as the reason, or are increased national insurance contributions and a higher minimum wage, both due in April, already being factored in?”
