Petrol breaks 140p-a-litre barrier in UK

The price of petrol has broken through the 140p-a-litre barrier for the first time in Britain, according to media reports. The average price at the pumps has now reached 140.20p a liter, with diesel at a new record of 146.72p, the Belfast Telegraph quoted AA as saying on Friday. Petrol prices have now risen more than 2.75p a liter in just three weeks, while the cost was only 132.25p a litre at the beginning of the year. The price of diesel at the start of 2012 stood at an average of 140.56p. The AA said that for the owner of a car consuming, on average, 106.17 liters of petrol a month, this year's 7.95p-a-litre increase in petrol has added £8.44 to the monthly fuel bill. In his Budget this week, Chancellor George Osborne said the fuel duty rise planned for August, which with Value Added Tax (VAT) added will amount to 3.62p a liter more for road users, would be going ahead. The AA said that this rise would mean monthly petrol costs would, by August, have increased by more than £12 since the start of the year. The AA added that at current prices, this would slash two-thirds of the £18.33-a-month (£220 a year) increase in the personal allowance set out in the Budget. "Just days after the chancellor refused to cancel the planned August rise, prices have now hit another painful barrier for Britain's hard-pressed motorists. A figure of £1.40 a liter is a massive price for people to have to pay and there is no end in sight to rising prices. The way things are going the planned duty rise will see average petrol prices hit the £1.50-a-liter mark - forcing more and more people who need their cars off the road", said RAC technical director, David Bizley.