Petrol pumps

Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have followed Tesco in cutting fuel by 2p a litre, just a day after official statisitcs showed rising prices at forecourts had contributed to inflation reaching its highest level in three years.

Tesco will introduce the reduced prices at its 500 petrol stations this afternoon ahead of Mother’s Day this weekend.

“We know many of our customers will be driving to spend time with their mothers this Sunday,” said Tesco fuel director Peter Cattell. “So to provide a little extra help we’re cutting the cost of petrol and diesel by two pence per litre at all of our 500 filling stations.”

Asda will cut prices at its 301 petrol stations from tomorrow, and will be capping petrol at 112.7p and diesel at 114.7p.

“Asda continues to lower fuel prices for the millions of drivers across the UK and for the second week running we’ve dropped the cost of fuel by up to 2ppl, meaning drivers have seen up to a 4ppl drop over the last two weeks,” said Asda head of petrol trading Dave Tyrer.

“Asda is the only retailer to have a national price cap, meaning no driver will pay more than 112.7ppl on unleaded and 114.7ppl on diesel at any Asda filling station.”

Sainsbury’s said it would also follow suit at its 306 forecourts tomorrow.

Morrisons said it was also reducing prices by up to 2p per litre at its 333 filling stations.

“Our cuts will ensure we continue to be the cheapest in every town across the country,” said Morrisons services director Roger Fogg.

The latest round of cuts means the big four supermarkets have cut fuel by 4p in the last two weeks.

The drop in prices comes after the cost of oil dropped from $55 a barrel to $50 in the last two weeks.

“We were at the point where motorists should have been starting to feel aggrieved that pump prices were higher than they ought to be,” said RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams.

“The last thing retailers need is for the public’s trust in their pricing policies to be undermined. We strongly urge other retailers - large and small - to follow suit and bring the price of petrol and diesel down around the country.”

The Office for National Statistics said yesterday inflation had risen to 2.3% in February, with fuel prices 18.7% higher than a year earlier.