Petrol prices

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace gave hope to motorists uncomfortable with rising fuel prices on Wednesday when he said fuel costs may have peaked.

Petrol and diesel prices have jumped to record levels and the cost of filling up the average car is now well over £100.

But speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday afternoon, Ben Wallace said that diversifying oil and gas supplies meant prices would soon start to fall. And he urged Western partners to stick to economic sanctions, even if they might hurt their economies.

Experian data shows that the average price of a litre of petrol at UK petrol stations reached a new high of 191.2p on Tuesday.

The average price of diesel was 199.0p a litre, a fraction of a penny below Saturday's record of 199.1p a litre.

This led car groups to accuse retailers of refusing to report the recent drop in wholesale prices.

The RAC said there was "no logic or reason why average prices in the station area are still rising", while The Automobile Association said drivers were "being taken for fools by traders".

Meanwhile, fuel thefts from UK petrol stations have reached record levels amid a surge in pump prices.

The industry body the Petroleum Retailers Association (PRA) said the number of takeaway incidents, where a motorist fills up and does not attempt to pay before leaving, has increased by 61% this year compared to the same period in 2021.

The PRA chief executive described the number of thefts as "off the scale".

He said retailers would lose £25 million if the current rate of redundancies continued over the next 12 months.

Cases of drivers claiming they cannot pay for fuel they have already put in their car, such as forgetting their wallet, have also increased, reaching an annual cost of £16 million.