Petrol prices drop but it's still more expensive to fill up in the North East than in Northern Ireland

North East motorists saw some of the sharpest falls in the cost of fuel in the country last month.
The North  East saw the biggest fall in petrol prices nationwide last monthThe North  East saw the biggest fall in petrol prices nationwide last month
The North East saw the biggest fall in petrol prices nationwide last month

Figures from the RAC show the average price of a litre of petrol in the region was 125.09p on Halloween, a drop of 2.30p from October 1.

That was the sharpest fall in the country and compares to a national average of 126.42p, a reduction of 1.57p over the month.

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Diesel prices in the region also fell to an average of 129.54p a litre, a drop of 1.61p – not the sharpest fall in the country but still a bigger reduction than the national average of 1.59p.

Northern Ireland is the cheapest place to fill up, with petrol costing an average of 124.07p a litre and diesel 128.18p, while the South East is the most expensive at 127.35p a litre for petrol and 131.56p for diesel.

Nationwide, last month’s reduction was the third in a row, with the cost of filling a 55-litre family car with petrol falling under £70 for the first time since March.

At the end of October Asda was selling the cheapest supermarket unleaded and diesel, ahead of Tesco.

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RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s clearly good news for drivers that pump prices reduced in October, but it’s disappointing they haven’t fallen further given the conditions were so favourable, with the price of oil averaging under $60 a barrel and the pound strengthening to $1.29.

“In the middle of the month, we called for a significant cut as we saw petrol was up to 7p a litre too expensive. The supermarkets responded with a round of price cuts, but most only decided to knock 2p a litre off unleaded. While this was positive we feel they could have gone quite a bit further.

“This is borne out by the average price only dropping just over a penny since then.

“As things stand both petrol and diesel are still 2p too expensive and should really be reduced. Sadly, we suspect this is extremely unlikely as the wholesale market is now beginning to go the other way which will start to eat in to the accumulated saving that should have been passed on to drivers before.”