AA claims petrol price rise fears ‘false’

Fears that the cost of filling up could soar in the next days and weeks have been denounced by the AA, although the organisation did admit that the north-south divide for fuel prices is growing wider.

This follows forecasts by the Retail Motor Industry Independent Petrol Retailers Association (RMI Petrol) on 10 August that petrol prices would rise by three per cent in the next weeks and by eight per cent by early 2011. The latter prediction has not yet been challenged by the AA.

AA public affairs head Paul Watters said: "Scaring drivers with false predictions of imminent price rises was not the retailers' finest hour, but the AA is more worried by the price gap between towns in the south of England." According to the AA, the gap between average petrol prices in the north and the south currently stands at 1.7p a litre, in contrast to 0.9p a litre in May this year.

In other news, The Fuelcard Company took its Don’t Fleece Our Fleet campaign to lower fuel duty for commercial vehicle drivers on the road last week in the most recent Fuelcard Roadshow: Support our campaign and sign our petition on Twitter and Facebook.