Fuel nears £1-a-litre as supermarkets cut prices for Christmas

Fuel prices are on course to drop below £1-a-litre in time for Christmas, after three of Britain's largest supermarkets slashed 2p off a litre of petrol and diesel. 

Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's will pass on the forecourt cuts on 9 December - bringing the average cost of unleaded down to 101p and diesel to 104p. However, experts predict more reductions are on the way as retailers pass on the fall in the wholesale cost of oil to motorists. 

"With the price of wholesale unleaded dropping due to oil falling below $40 the climate is right for £1-a-litre petrol," said RAC Fuel Watch spokesman Simon Williams.

"If retailers don’t pass on the savings quickly, they will be giving themselves an unpopular Christmas boost to profits by pocketing the extra margin when they should really be passing this on to their customers instead," Williams added.

The RAC believes that the average of unleaded will fall by another 3p-per-litre in the next fortnight, while diesel prices are expected to drop by 5p. Sub-£1 fuel prices will be welcomed by families in the run up to Christmas, meaning it will cost £52.94 to fill the tank of a Ford Focus, a saving of around £4 compared to November.  

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