Your Comments

I agree with (the oldie) David,I might add that I too am (an oldie) and that young people do NOT have the perception of prices,if we were still on price per gallon then am sure they would.When petrol goes up even 1p a litre young peole DONT think that is very much but if it were 5p a gallon then am sure they would be shouting out the odds!!!!

As a diesel owner I would like to know why diesel is more expensive than petrol as it is cheaper to produce, and lorry's that carry our goods to their destinations are passing this extra cost onto the consumers.
If the cost of diesel was to be reduced to the proporsional cost of producing petrol then the cost of comsumer goods would fall.

i know that some of the money we pay for petrol goes on public roads, but after they put down the tar-mac it is bumpy and un-even, they never put it back even, so we pay out for our cars to be repaired from ware and tare from the badly replaced roads costing us more again, i thought the price of road tax paid for maintance of the roads, so were is all this money going, all we are doing is paying for the govt wages, i think we all should stand up to them and not put any petrol in our cars for 2 weeks we have put up with this for long enough now lets stand tall i,ll support any fuel strike,
keep up the good work lads.

I am a business owner and have to use my car for business, so I always watch what I pay for my fuel. I have just returned from 2 weeks holiday in Donegal Republic of Ireland where Diesel costs around 112 - 114 Euros a litre roughly 78 - 80p, now during the whole 2 weeks with the war in Israel the terrorist arrests the price did not move once at any of the stations near to us and there was 5 or 6. This proves to me that the retailers in the UK react too quickly to negative news but are slow to put prices down when the oil price goes down. Also the fat Chancellor of the exchequer Fat Greedy Gordon Brown should take a leaf out of the Republic's Chancellor and reduce fuel duty as was done in the South of Ireland a few years ago to help boost their economy.

Before the price war that started last week I was paying 99.9p per ltr my wife had to put some fuel in my diesel Terrano on the motorway and she had to pay 106.9p per ltr how can they be allowed to charge 7p per ltr extra. The goverment has to do more to help companys stay competative and help families still be able to get about. Sorry I forgot, this goverment like easy ways of getting money out of us, Transport is any easy way to do this because we can not do with out it. Car Tax, Petrol tax, Insurance Tax need I go on.

I am Self Employed in Leeds supplying a Handyman Service and am appalled at the spiralling cost of diesel over the past year -- traditionally diesel used to be cheaper than petrol and no comments have been made in the press about this rise I E diesel is now higher than petrol - the press only seem to comment on petrol going up again but in my eyes seem to ignore diesel .

WHAT most people seem to forget if diesel increases then living costs increase,because how do we receive most of our goods -- food etc and services - by vans and most vans / lorries etc rely on diesel to run.

So what happens ??? costs of goods etc rise because transport costs rise !!! NO EXTRA PROFIT to the supplier I must add just brake even on service supplied.

I understand that there are variations in price due to oil but it could send a small business under if the cost rises to high and the net result is job loss, as a member of the F S B - Federation of Small Business ( Please Note Iam NOT SPEAKING ON THERE BEHALF IN ANY WAY ONLY AS MYSELF) our organisation is aware of this and campaigns on this issue.

BUT Until the general public are aware of the major impact this price hike REALLY HAS, the attitude of OH OK !! petrol has ONLY gone up by x pence a ltr --- 4.5 ltr to the gallon so WHAT !! will not change -- I must point out until this attitude changes and it MUST change and change soon we need to keep a campaign going.

I as a small business over this past year have had to mostly swallow this hike and keep my service price reasonable but this is now a MAJOR JOKE.

A major campaign like this blogg and hounding the press & Gov with new worthy points ALL THE TIME is another way to WAKE THE U K PUBLIC UP !!! - as brits the stiff upper lip is starting to tremble a bit now and as we have seen in supermarket price rises, they (THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT IS) are only just beginning to realise the impact of fuel cost now !!!

Anyone out there that feels the same as me needs to band together or use all the contacts they have, and ask the Gov to reach a reasonable compromise, I E DUTY & TAX ON FUEL What's that all about ???

Why not One Flat Rate ?? which is easier to vary if things get bad , as if the price rises at the pump the Tax & Duty go up, past the projections made by the Gov ---- so more profits to the Gov over and above the projections made --- if the public ignore this -- we the U K will pull ourselves under with the apathy we have at this moment, INSTEAD of moving forward as we have been and improving our quality of life in the U K we need to ALL work together not pull in separate directions.

Yes the price of petrol is far too expensive (mostly tax).

It really annoys me when all you hear about is the environmental damage caused by the use of cars/lorries etc etc on the roads. Hence the price of petrol and congestion charging or so they say.

What about our politicians leading by example:

No more travelling abroad by plane (biggest polluter) they can now talk to other governments by video links etc thus cutting out jolly boys outings.

Ditching their cars (especially adapted bombproofed weighing tons) and getting on their bikes or legs.

They obviously don't trust public transport.

What we really need to do is call a strike, use no cars or lorries for 3 days and see how much revenue Mr Brown would lose.

That is want it is all about, as the sone goes Money Money Money.

I'd love to work close enough to home to be able to cycle. In fact when I was younger and worked about 7 miles away I would on occasion run to work (yep, and back). Now I'd older and work 22 miles from home I rely on my car to get me there. OK, there's always the train if necessary, but as it takes 1/2 hour longer and would cost the same (Tax, MOT, etc. inc.) if it was just me, but as I share most of the journey with my wife it's cheaper to use the car and more convenient.

So what about petrol prices - well of course they are over priced - the added tax is added by a bunch of crooks and incompetent buffoons! That's the government by the way. Tax on petrol is nothing to do with emissions, which is covered by the little round disc on you window, it is simply another way to get more money out of us. And why "incompetent buffoons", well just look at how useless, expensive and inadequate the public transport is.

I don't want to upset the haulage people, as they were key to the last fuel protests, however if all the long distance transportation went by rail the roads would probably be a lot better with less polution. You know - like before the government screwed up the railway network by closing the local lines that fed the major lines.

Talking of protests - If there is going to be another protest I really hope it goes all the way next time. I mean really cripple the country for a few week until the government listens and at least halves the tax. Last time it nearly got there but like typical Brits we give up when the win is in sight like near Baghdad 10 years ago (the first time), but that's another topic!

I have to travel 23 miles to and 23 miles from work each day.
I do not choose to work this far away, believe me, the extra hour in bed would be great. There is no work for me nearer to home so i cannot ride a bike or catch the bus, so for me, petrol prices are a real bug bear.
if people couldnt go to work because they could not afford the petrol, then what?
The politicians need to get it right!

This could be only local to my area but I nearly always find that the cheapest petrol and at least around the top 5 is at Asda. Using my Asda Credit card I can get a 2p per litre reduction. which as I think that fuel is expensive I tend to use the card to reduce it. No I do not work for Asda, nor any company associated with it!!

Theft and robbery are against the law ... so why is it the UK Government are continually allowed to charge such high tax rates on fuel ... this in my humble opinion is no better than day light robbery. It's about time the UK had another petrol strike and demonstrated actively.

In response to Mr Hazleton's comments (post 13). The notion that 4x4 vehicles are "just as economical as a lot of other vehicles about" is absurd. Extraneous four-wheel drive vehicles are universally less economical than their two-wheel drive counterparts on account of the extra mass of their drivetrains. 4WD means another propshaft and another differential - more kerb weight. Greater mass requires a greater expenditure of energy, and therefore greater fuel consumption.

It is without doubt we live in a very greedy country, equally so a very greedy government, and no matter how many times we protest no-one gives a toss. There was a programme on tv last night, a guy in Montana USA extracting oil from coal at a fraction of the cost of crude. Why not open our coalmines and do the same?, not only will we be saving but putting people back in work.. What do you say Mr Phony Blair and the rest of the Robbers.

Will anyone stop to consider the fact that personal transport is a privilege afforded by the prevalence of cheap oil. Yes - cheap oil. Oil is - as we all know - a finite resource. But as we may not all realise no other existing or even experimental fuel technology affords a comparable, or even practicable alternative. Despite the wealth of pedagogic and parochial views spouted on this forum the truth is fuel prices will continue to rise. And rise. The exponential development of the Chinese, Indian and other economies will strain the supply of this resource and as production struggles to match demand price-per-barrel will soar in the coming years. This is inevitable. Whilst you may not enjoy being Gordon Brown's cash cattle, educate yourself to understand the realities of the geopolitical landscape, and the near certainty that things will get worse. Finally, it is worth noting that the UK's historically high fuel taxation is motivated by a vital strategic need to reduce this nation's dependence on foreign oil (typically sourced from nations with little sympathy for the Western way of life). Comparing the popularity of advanced diesel-engined cars on UK roads to those of America (and other factors) I'd argue this policy has been effective. But please consider yourselves lucky to drive the cars you drive, from the dilapidated Rover 200s to the Range Rover Sports. Your children may well be less fortunate.

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I own an RX-8 which is very thirsty to say the least, so im regularly in the petrol forecourts filling up. It infuriates me on how the government take advantage of the motorist, they know that most of us are unable to basically live without cars so they use this to squeeze every penny out of us. Knowing that we wont just leave our cars at home and we will carry on lining there pockets. Petrol has risen by 25p a litre in the last 4 years where i live, I just dread to think how much it will be in another 4 years!
Another thing that annoys me is that on top of the high petrol prices you are looking at £200 a year in road tax aswell, I wouldnt mind but the roads we drive on are all in a terrible state.

The cost of fuel (i.e the rate we the consumer) pays can alos be seen as relative to our earnings. We are a rich country and there is certainly more disposable income (look around and see how many more cars there are on the roads), so maybe we should contribute more to the social costs of motoring. Having said that we all know that the taxes we pay when we purchase fuel do not directly go towards rewarding the motorist and in fact never even contribute to environmental schemes. If we the consumer got more in return e.g. free basic third party insurance cover (as is the case in South Africa) or other intrinsic benefits I would not consider the price of fuel to be over the top.

The reason I object so much to paying high prices is that I never get anything back in return and then on top of it all I also have to pay a road fund licencse fee every year not to mention the Insurance tax on my insurance premiums.

As a disabled person reliant on a car i find the constant rise in diesel is making it prohibative for me to carry out what abled bodied individuals take for granted. I have noted the usual arguments relating to the price of fuel, such as damaging the environment! If these so called environmentalists actually cared that much for the environment then they would give up their cosy well lit, gas-electric heated homes and install the various eco-friendly equivalents as an example to the rest of us. We in the UK represent a minute amount of world carbon emissions, we are only a pimple on the butt of the USA, even though we are at present one of the worlds leading economies. We no longer have the heavy industry such as coal, steel and manufacturing to produce these world threatening levels of carbon dioxide. There is no doubt that government officials, especially the treasury are happy to heap "oil" onto the fire of the environmental argument as this enables ease for future tax increases whether directly or indirectly to be levied. The car at present is cleaner than past models and if incentives from governments were given to car manufacturers to encourage future models not to be reliant on oil. Finally, no-one has mentioned the population increase and subsequent increase in housing, however, road building networks have dimished and government actively encourage local government to increase traffic calming measures, new controlled traffic lights, concrete mounds of varying height on main arteries, static and mobile cameras to collect more revenue, altering existing street systems causing major congestion for months, all without sufficient public transport infrastructure to cope. There is no doubt that the motorist whether able bodied or disabled are seen as evil by an increasing number of short sighted people and politicians within society who are comfortable to bame them for ecological changes of undetermined origin whilst at the same time imposing draconian laws and levying disproportionate taxes to satisfy their ill-informed agenda.

What annoys me is that I have to use my car for work but the fuel allowance I get is fixed and also includes wear and tear of my car. The government takes from us motorists but then paints us as the bad guys for using our cars.
I cannot use public transport for work. even if I could the transport system is so bad that I would not want to use it .

My parents are now living in Spain, recently they drove over from Alacante to me here in St Andrews, via family in Hull and Lancashire, they could not believe the cost of fuel here in the UK and I whole heartedly agree with them, why do they pay 40 - 50 cents in Spain and we pay nearly a POUND over here. I know we are heavily taxed in this country but it still amazes me that we pay that much for fuel (which is a real necessity to many people) when our European counterparts don't! WHY WHY WHY

I just can not see the logic in the taxation level on fuel.

There have been several comments about combining Fuel Tax and Car Tax. This would, according to some, solve the problem of those who use most petrol, pay more for using the road. However, this doen't necessarily solve all the problems of those who choose not to tax their cars because they can't afford it, or because they want to get away with it. There should still be a registration system for this reason: Hampshire police have the ability to take a car away and crush it, if there is no insurance or car tax. Often the perp has no driving licence as well. In the past year, they have destroyed 1100 cars and there is no appeal. No insurance = no car. If you can't afford to run a car, don't do it and that includes petrol/diesel. All those moaning minnies who complain about the cost of fuel: live with it, it ain't going to get any better. Any consumer product has the law of supply and demand, and those that can afford things, buy them, be it champagne, caviar or cars. It's no use complaining about 4x4s, their owners can obviously afford to run them, but if you are on the lower end of the food chain, it's going to hurt more to service a cars thirst. So it's the old adage: 'It's the rich whats gets the pleasure, it's the poor what gets the blame'.

They have us by the short & curlys!! We all moan at the price of fuel myself included but none of us will stop filling up & walk, and they no this.....
I am all for reducing fuel prices as i easily spend 100 pound or more on fuel each month and this is just getting from A to B god knows what i would spend if i had to travel far. We need our cars and thats the problem.... These money hungry MPs dont care as they get fuel paid for by us the tax payer.
So what really can we do....Another baracade which caused mass panic or maybe a letter to Tony Blair, Im sorry I just can see a solution......

Ever hopeful.............

O f course we are being ripped off, the yanks drive bigger cars for longer distances and are paying less than half what we have to pay. Does this make sense when they are further from the worlds main oil supplies than the UK. My next question is Where is all the cheap oil we were supposed to be getting from Iraq? My cousins have both done multiple tours of that hell hole and Afghanistan, FOR WHAT??

Theres tax on tobacco/beer wines and spirts and on fuel.When they want a bit more cash where do they get it? yep you guessed right.So we all spit and fume stamp our feet and throw our toys out of the pram,But what do we do in the end we PAY IT so just a vicious circle and the goverment know only full well this is what we will do.They are not stupid just us in the long run.....

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Whether we like it or not cars are here to stay and yes we are polluting the planet but we are now so used to this mode of transport that we are not easily going to give it up. Prices of fuel here though are far too expensive but the government has got us in a catch 22 situation. They know we want to use our cars, and that we won't stop using ours cars, therefore they have an easy way to make us pay tax.

The weather is against public transport - who wants to stand in the rain, hail and snow when they have a car at their front door.
Public transport is its own worst enemy due to prices, and lack of accessability especially for the elderly and disabled.

I think that one way to go is to be able to stop paying the car licence and put it on petrol. This way you pay as you go. What you save on car licencing would then go towards fuel and tax paid on the fuel should in part go to the upkeep of roads etc.

Yep, it's poo here, in other countries such as the US and Oz they have cars with big engines (when I went to Oz last year a 4-cylinder car was practically unheard of, everyone's got 6-cylinders or more) and ain't paying as much as us for petrol, yet we have relatively modest cars and pay sh*t loads, what's that all about??

-Ed

Yes petrol is too expensive; the price does not reflect the global rarity of the substance as other countries pay much less and therefore someone is making far too much money from British drivers.

I think the website is excellent and have let several colleagues know about it. I consult it everytime I need petrol. However I was disappointed that yesterday that it didnt include the JET petrol station on the Gilnahirk Road, Belfast BT5 in its 5 cheapest station around BT5. I just happened to be in the area last night and discovered that their unleaded was 93.9 per litre which is 6p a litre cheaper than the station just around the corner from where I live,

regards marie

What we all need to do is go on strike until petrol prices are brought down. And I mean everyone no one goes to work no one goes to school, the entire country will grind to a halt. Sadly this will never happen people will just go on paying what ever price petrol is £1 a litre £2 a litre £3 a litre it does not matter.

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Yes, we pay far too much for petrol/diesel. I drive a 'gas guzzling' 4X4 but don't feel that i should have to justify it by saying that its because we tow a caravan & carry 6 people. my gas guzzler gets only a small amount of mpg less than my hubbys 'driven too fast on the motorway' smaller car. The comment about putting the petrol prices up as per gallon would certainly shock people & maybe the greedy government would have to reduce tax.

im sick of people going on about there are to many cars on the road. so whats the answer then lets get all the cars of the road all the wagons, all the planes out of the sky. all the buses of the road. lets go back to the dark ages. rotten meat brought by horse and cart. no fresh veg. no fresh bread.no more tescos. no more holidays unless you go by boat. but you will have clean air to breath. but you will pay for it too. in super hi taxes. there will be know fuel duty comming in no fuel vat. the tax has got to come from somewere YOU!!!! LEAVE DRIVERS ALONE WITHOUT CARS AND WAGONS AND 4x4S ON THE ROAD THE COUNTRY WOULD GRIND TO A HALT.

If you live in a rural area, as I do, you have no option but to pay the price of fuel. My local bus service runs once a week, we have no shop, I'm not a good cyclist and my husband has been knocked off his bike twice on our narrow roads. Some European countries weight fuel prices so that rural dwellers with no choice in the matter of transport pay less, why not in Britain too ?

If a large majority of the country stopped buying petrol & or diesel for 1 day in protest,the government & petrol company's would perhaps do something about the price of fuel.
Thank you for supplying the "Petrol Prices" on a Monday,which I find very useful.

My friend who is visiting from Oman Is really upset at the price (recent price rise) he has to pay over there... 75p a GALLON!!

jonathon - I fear you may have bumped yer head when you decided to write that entry! Petrol has become an every day requirement for the majority of todays population and its criminal the way we are being forced, held to ransom, hell call it what you want, into paying these over inflated prices. Okay, i see your point regarding the pollution aspect, but is high taxation on the fuel really the answer?- I suggest looking to the root cause,i.e the car/engine manufacturers - hitting the muppets who produce large gas guzzlers with a new tax might make a difference.
Botom line is people require fuel - goverments have had it too easy when it comes to taxing the little people.
Lets see fuel reduced to a wallet soothing 70p'ish a litre...not unrealistic if the yanks can sell it at $3 a gallon!

Q..- Why is diesel more expensive than petrol, especially (as i believe), derv is produced first during the refinnery process?

I have read all the previous comments, agreed with some, doubted few others and totally disagreed with one. Good job we have freedom of speech or, do we still have? I strongly believe we pay too much for petrol. Unlike the 'elderly' 40 ish year old, I have lived a further decade. I ride a bike for 'fun' but only attempt a few country roads given so many drivers are rude and drive quite dangerously. I drive a car for work because I have to cover a wide area spanning 2 and a half counties. I am lucky as I get milage allowance but that hasn't increased in years and certainly does not reflect the petrol prices I pay. There is no public transport that I can use. Can anyone else remember filling up for the week and it cost just £1 or, is that too far back?