Fuel price map of Britain: does your petrol cost more than this?

We’re all feeling the pinch as prices go up everywhere, so we asked colleagues at interactive investor to find the cheapest and most expensive petrol station forecourts near them. Here’s what we discovered.

We’re all feeling the pinch as prices go up everywhere – food, energy bills, booze, train tickets. And if it’s not going up in price, it’s coming down in size; I’m talking about you Mondelez and your shrinking chocolate bars!

We’ve also just heard that grocery price inflation hit 5.2% in March, a 10-year high, at a time when broader UK inflation runs at 6.2%. That figure could, according to some economists, reach double digits by the summer. Most think 8% is more likely, but we’re already feeling the impact on our wallets and purses, so whether it’s 8% or 10%, it’s going to put a significant dent in household incomes.

One of the biggest and most visible price increases has been the soaring cost of fuel at the petrol station forecourt. Even factoring in chancellor Rishi Sunak’s 5p a litre cut in fuel duty, motorists are having to spend far more to fill up the tank than they were a few months ago.

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Rising demand following the pandemic had already triggered an increase in petrol prices. Now it’s the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia which threaten the supply of fuel to the West that has propelled petrol prices to a record high.

With all this in mind, we asked colleagues at interactive investor to find some of the cheapest and most expensive petrol station forecourts near them over the weekend 26-27 March 2022.

We’ve already done our own research into the cost-of-living crisis, recently discovering a significant rise in the price of pasta and other everyday household items at local supermarkets. Now, we’ve hit the road to get a feel for what motorists are paying for unleaded and diesel at forecourts across Britain.

While it is a flash poll of hand-picked stations, it spans the length and breadth of the UK and finds some massive regional disparities.

You can see our findings in the interactive investor Fuel Price Map of Britain below.

Well done if you live in Cardiff. According to our survey, it’s the cheapest place for fuel at 156.7p for a litre of unleaded. Three-and-a-half hours up the motorway in Stockport it’s 169.9p, a whopping 8.4% extra. Too expensive? Drive the 50 miles to Leeds and you’ll get it for 156.9p.

Using the average fuel tank size of 55 litres, it’ll cost you an extra £7.26 to fill up in Stockport than in Cardiff. If you drive a diesel, it’s even more - £8.25. Leeds is the cheapest destination for diesel owners at 169.9p. Back in Manchester a litre will set you back 184.9p, an extra 8.8%.

The price of diesel is significantly higher than unleaded, but the difference between the cheapest unleaded and most expensive diesel price is 28p, or 18%, a great advert for going electric!