The north/south divide in petrol prices

When it comes to the price of fuel, you're actually better off if you live up North!

Let’s face it, there’s always been a bit of friendly rivalry between the north and south of England, with each region believing it’s better than the other. But now it seems that the divide has been taken one step further – in the form of petrol prices.

In fact, according to research from the AA, if you live in the north you’re far likely to get a better deal on your fuel than if you live in the south. The report claims that large areas of southern England have suffered from an unprecedented disparity in petrol prices between neighbouring towns over the past month.

Frustratingly for southerners, although the average price of petrol in the UK has fallen from the all-time high of 121.61p a litre in mid-May to the current 118.08p, in large areas of the south, south east, home counties, and rural Midlands, the cheapest supermarket price is 119.9p a litre - which is still above the UK's 2008 peak of 119.7p.

Beat your neighbours

Back in May, a petrol price war meant that petrol prices dropped to 113.9p a litre in towns with Asda fuel stations, and 115.9p in others. However, many built-up areas missed out. As a result, simply living in the wrong town could mean you’re paying 4p to 6p a litre (or £2 to £3 a tank) more for petrol compared to the town next to you.

Londoners hit the hardest

So which areas are getting the best deals, and which are getting the worst?

Well, according to the AA, it’s Londoners that are the worst off, paying an average of 119.3p for their petrol. (Big surprise, eh?)

Meanwhile, the cheapest average petrol price is in Yorkshire & Humberside at 116.8p.

To give you a better idea, the table below highlights June’s average regional petrol prices, compared to May.

So it’s pretty clear that if you live in the northern half of the country, you’re likely to get a better deal on your fuel than if you live in the southern half.

The table below shows you the same for diesel prices.

This time it’s Northern Ireland that has the highest petrol price at 121.3p, closely followed by Wales, the south east and London at 121p. Again, Yorkshire & Humberside has the lowest price at 119.5p.

Keeping the costs down

If you live in one of the more expensive petrol areas, you might be pondering whether it’s time to move. But if that seems a little drastic, don’t despair because there are plenty of other ways to keep your petrol costs to a minimum. Take a look at these five tips:

Shop around

The first thing to do is to shop around. A great website to use is petrolprices.com as this will help you locate the lowest-priced fuel in your area. Simply register your details and enter your postcode. The site will then locate the lowest prices for petrol, diesel and even LPG fuel near to where you live.

If you’re still not convinced that prices can really vary that much from petrol station to petrol station, the chart below will give you some idea of just how much prices can differ:

So you can see that it really can pay off to shop around!

Adjust your driving technique

Switching to a more fuel-efficient driving style is easy to do. To start with, make sure you watch your speed. Every extra 10 miles of speed per hour costs you an extra 4p per mile. So the faster you go, the more this will increase.

You should also ensure you drive in the correct gear, as driving in a lower gear than you need to wastes fuel. Try to avoid sudden braking and accelerating too as this can add up to 30% to your fuel bill.

Unfortunately if you’re travelling on a hot day, blasting your air conditioning can add 10% to your fuel bill, while opening the windows also burns more fuel as the wind creates resistance. So try to keep air conditioning usage to a minimum and keep your windows closed if you can.

Related how-to guide

Beat the petrol price hikes

Fuel-saving tips and cheaper car running advice to help you save money on your motoring, and beat the petrol price hikes.

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Ditch the extra weight

A 100kg load can reduce mileage by up to five miles per gallon – so if you’re not using them, remove all roof racks and empty the boot of all unnecessary items.

Carry out some basic maintenance

Make sure you regularly check your tyre pressure, oil level and coolant. If you keep your car well-maintained it will be far more fuel efficient! Believe it or not, under-inflated tyres can add up to 3% to your fuel bill.

Get cashback

Finally, when paying for your petrol, it’s worth keeping an eye out for loyalty schemes operated by the big petrol firms and motoring organisations. Often they will offer their own-branded credit cards and by using them, you can collect reward points.

For example, the AA Credit Card Visa offers you a point for each pound you spend on motoring expenses. If you're a member of the AA, that is then doubled, and you can cash in those points on everything from car insurance and maps to high street vouchers and cash.

Alternatively, you could use a cashback credit card such as the American Express Platinum Cashback Card which offers 5% cashback in the first three months up to £100, and up to 1.25% thereafter. Just bear in mind that American Express isn’t accepted everywhere.

So no matter where you live, follow these five steps and you’ll easily be able to keep your petrol costs down!

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