After months of doom and gloom, there is temporary cheer for motorists and hard-pressed retailers.
Drivers were offered a glimmer of good news as diesel prices dropped – marginally – for the first time in nearly nine months, while the sunshine tempted shoppers to splash cash on the high street last month, according to latest figures.
The AA said the average pump price of diesel fell marginally over the weekend from 130.09p to 130.07p a litre.
It is the first drop since the end of the motoring season in September, the motoring organisation said, and comes in the wake of a 10 per cent drop in wholesale diesel prices over two weeks. Prices per metric tonne fell from $1,346 a tonne on May 23 to $1,204 on June 4, with the resumption of diesel production at three major European refineries cited.
But the respite could be shortlived as latest data shows wholesale prices on the rise after Friday’s spike in oil prices to nearly $140 a barrel.
Diesel and petrol prices have risen relentlessly this year thanks to the soaring price of oil, now up more than 40 per cent. Data from the UK’s forecourts has shown no pause in soaring petrol prices, which have reached an average of 116.79p per litre across the UK, according to the AA.
