Supermarket freezes fuel prices

A supermarket has announced that it is temporarily freezing the price of its fuel as motorists faced a hike of 2p a litre.

Morrisons said it would not be increasing the price of petrol and diesel despite a Government fuel duty rise.

Despite intense lobbying to get it to reverse its decision, the Government is pressing ahead with a planned 2p-a-litre increase in fuel duty.

With VAT included, the rise will actually be 2.3p at a time when the average price of petrol has risen to about 105p a litre.

But Morrisons said it will freeze fuel prices at its stores from September 1 until September 6.

Morrisons chief executive Marc Bolland said: "Once again, Morrisons is taking the lead in giving fuel price savings.

"By paying the duty increase we are demonstrating our commitment to delivering the strongest value for all our customers."

Morrisons is currently charging 103.77p per litre for unleaded petrol and 103.90p per litre for diesel.

At the beginning of the year petrol was roughly 85p a litre but, with world oil prices likely to increase over the next few weeks, it is feared that prices at the pump could soon rise to 110p a litre.

This would mean drivers, on average, having to find an extra £60 a year for their petrol. Sainsbury's said it would not be imposing a freeze as its fuel prices were already low.