Biggest weekly rise in fuel costs forces Cornish businesses to put up prices
Peter Coton from Redruth says he has not seen a jump this big in 14 years of teaching
Last updated 11th Mar 2022
Companies across Cornwall say they are worried about rising fuel prices as the conflict in Ukraine continues.
Figures from data firm Experian Catalist show that on Thursday, the average price of petrol in the UK went above £1.60 for the first time ever.
Diesel's increase was even bigger, moving above £1.70 for the first time.
In the Duchy, drivers are reporting garages charging almost £2 for a litre of diesel.
But the AA says wholesale costs have gone down, which could offer relief on forecourts.
Oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leading to higher wholesale costs for fuel retailers.
The price per barrel of Brent crude – the most commonly used way of measuring the UK’s oil price – reached 139 US dollars on Monday, which was its highest level in 14 years.
But the price plummeted to 109 US dollars on Wednesday.
"I've never seen a sharp increase like this"
We have been speaking to Redruth driving instructor Peter Coton, who has just had to put up his prices.
He said: "It affects everything else. It affects your cost of living as well. All that cost is passed back on to the customer.
"I've just recently done it from the 1st of February. I was very competitive at £28 per hour but now I've had to put it up to £30 and if things carry on the way they are, we may have to increase it further".
Peter added: "I don't think the business is going to be affected too much because there's still a very big demand out there for driving instructors. But of course it affects the amount of hours that people can afford to pay for so it could, overall, affect the quality of driving which is the biggest problem.
"I've been doing this now for about 14 years and I've never seen a sharp increase like this.
"We've had costs increase and during Covid costs went down again, but I've never seen an increase as big as this before now".
It has prompted the transport industry to call on the government to cut VAT on petrol and diesel.
"Unbelievably high prices on forecourts"
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "A tank of petrol is now almost £88 while diesel has now gone over £92.
"Diesel unfortunately appears to be on a clear path to £1.70 a litre.
"As this is an average price, drivers will be seeing some unbelievably high prices on forecourts as retailers pass on their increased wholesale costs.
"But there was a hint of better news yesterday (Tuesday) on the wholesale market with substantial drops in both petrol and diesel which could lead, in a week or so, to a slight slowing in the daily pump price increases, and records being broken less frequently".
Online fuel price comparison service PetrolPrices said it was used by 150,000 people on Wednesday.
That is a 10-fold increase since mid-February, demonstrating the rising number of people concerned about the cost of filling up.
The firm said several forecourts are charging £2 per litre for diesel.
How much are you paying for fuel? How is the rise affecting your journeys? You can send us your comments to CornwallNews@bauermedia.co.uk