Driver surprise at Tesco petrol pump prices with diesel now cheaper than unleaded

There was surprise at a Tesco petrol pump forecourt over the price difference between petrol and diesel.

One driver visiting a branch of the supermarket chain in Shoreham-by-sea, West Sussex spotted the 1p variation.

The smallest of price gaps means that petrol is now more expensive than diesel, an unusual sight.

On Twitter, a user said, “Don’t think I’ve ever known that to be the case in 30 years of driving.”

A litre of petrol cost 145.9 pence and diesel at 144.9 pence, although petrol prices at other branches near Crawley are said to be as much as 10 pence cheaper.

In Maidstone in Kent, the supermarket had petrol 3 pence per litre cheaper earlier this week with prices between 135.9 pence and 138.9 pence per litre.

It comes as data from the RAC shows the average price of diesel fell by 12p a litre in May, the largest cut ever seen by the motoring industry since 2000.

Analysis of the figures show diesel is now 52p lower, £28.60 a tank, than the all-time high of 199p last summer and unleaded is 48p lower (£26.40 a tank) than its record of 191.5p.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said, "After calling for big pump price cuts for weeks we were pleased to see that May was the month where this finally happened.

"The fact it appears to have been prompted by the Competition and Markets Authority’s mid-month announcement about weakening competition in fuel retailing is surely not a coincidence.

“A 12p reduction in the price of diesel in one month is something we haven’t seen in nearly 23 years of monitoring prices. But despite this, it’s still galling to see that a litre of diesel is 8.5p cheaper in Northern Ireland than it is in the rest of the UK.

"This points to a more transparent and competitive fuel market there, something drivers in the rest of the UK would very much like to see, particularly with money being so tight in the cost-of-living crisis."

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