Supermarket petrol price war as Sainsburys and Asda cut fuel prices

Asda said it would be reducing the cost of diesel by 3p per litre and petrol by 2p per litre on Thursday – meaning customers will pay no more than 121.7p per litre for petrol and 125.7p per litre for diesel.

Sainsbury's followed soon after, confirming it was making the same reductions in all 314 of its forecourts from Saturday.

Asda senior fuel buyer Dave Tyrer said: "With wholesale costs falling and half-term just around the corner, we're pleased to be able lower the cost of fuel and pass these savings on to our customers."

Earlier in the week, the RAC claimed retailers should reflect a drop in the wholesale cost of petrol by reducing prices by 7p per litre.

Oil has been trading at around 60 US dollars a barrel since the beginning of the month, causing the wholesale cost of petrol to fall steadily since October 7, according to the RAC.

The motoring services firm's fuel spokesman, Simon Williams, said: "Drivers are losing out badly, paying around 7p a litre more for petrol than they should be. This means a driver filling up a 55-litre family car is paying £3.85 too much.

"For some reason, in the last year or so our biggest retailers haven't been as transparent with their pricing as they have been in the past, which means motorists all over the country lose out as a result of them taking more margin than they have previously."