
In rural Denbighshire a care company has resorted to providing its nurses with electric scooters because they are struggling with the cost of driving to appointments. In Yorkshire a freight company says it is spending £20,000 a year to run each of its lorries. Local newspapers are offering tips on “hypermiling”, the practice of using as little fuel as possible. The fuel crisis is escalating – but is there anything the government can do about it?
According to the RAC it now costs £98 to fill up the average car with petrol, and more than £100 with diesel. The automotive services company said the cost of a litre of petrol rose from 177.88p on Sunday to 178.50p on Monday and this is unlikely to be the end of it; according to Simon Williams, the RAC’s spokesman, petrol prices will continue to rise over the summer. “Drivers need to brace themselves for average fuel prices rocketing to £2 a litre, which would mean a fill-up would rise to an unbelievable £110,” he says.