Drivers in East Ayrshire are paying less for petrol than anywhere else in Scotland, and less than almost anywhere in Britain, new figures show.
Petrol averages 171.21p a litre across the 15 forecourts in East Ayrshire, making it the sixth cheapest of 328 council areas in Britain. That is 3.76p below the British average of 174.97p, a saving of £2.07 on a 55-litre tank, and £5.72 less than drivers pay in the Western Isles.
Diesel and local prices
Diesel averages 196.89p, and only one of the area's 15 forecourts charges £2 or more a litre for it. The lowest petrol price in the area on Monday, October 5 morning was 166.9p, at Barrhill Garage in Cumnock.
Scotland also has the most expensive place in Britain for petrol, the Western Isles, where drivers pay 181.60p a litre.
Data and methodology
The figures come from data specialists at SEO Backlinks, who pulled the latest pump prices for every filling station in Britain from the Government's Fuel Finder service on the morning of 5 October. They took the price of standard E10 unleaded petrol and standard diesel at each forecourt that had updated its prices within the last month, left out motorway services and members-only Costco sites, and worked out the average for every council area with at least eight forecourts. That covered 6,952 forecourts in 328 council areas across England, Scotland and Wales.
The Western Isles is the most expensive place in Britain for petrol at 181.60p a litre, and Rossendale in Lancashire is the cheapest at 169.72p.
National averages and reaction
Across Britain, petrol averages 174.97p and diesel 200.24p, after the RAC said last week that the UK average price of diesel had passed £2 a litre for the first time.
Daniel Weston, Founder at SEO Backlinks said: “I expected the big cities to come out as the dearest, but it’s the islands and the towns around London where people are paying the most. Islands have the cost of getting fuel over there, so you can understand that, but it’s harder to see why commuters in Hertfordshire or Surrey should pay so much more than drivers in Lancashire. With diesel now over £2 a litre, I’d look up prices before setting off, because even within one council area the cheapest and dearest pumps can be 10p a litre apart.”
The 10 cheapest places in Britain for petrol
- Rossendale, Lancashire: 169.72p petrol, 196.08p diesel
- Kirklees, West Yorkshire: 170.17p petrol, 196.64p diesel
- Ceredigion, Wales: 170.98p petrol, 198.59p diesel
- Mid Suffolk, Suffolk: 171.03p petrol, 197.67p diesel
- Preston, Lancashire: 171.21p petrol, 196.87p diesel
- East Ayrshire, Scotland: 171.21p petrol, 196.89p diesel
- Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: 171.22p petrol, 197.69p diesel
- Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire: 171.23p petrol, 195.40p diesel
- South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear: 171.26p petrol, 197.99p diesel
- West Lindsey, Lincolnshire: 171.38p petrol, 198.71p diesel
The 10 most expensive places in Britain for petrol
- Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan Siar), Scotland: 181.60p petrol, 208.93p diesel
- Uttlesford, Essex: 181.35p petrol, 204.81p diesel
- Isle of Wight: 180.67p petrol, 205.31p diesel
- Broxbourne, Hertfordshire: 180.12p petrol, 202.01p diesel
- Tandridge, Surrey: 179.26p petrol, 201.99p diesel
- Wandsworth, London: 178.76p petrol, 201.61p diesel
- Breckland, Norfolk: 178.74p petrol, 202.90p diesel
- East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire: 178.57p petrol, 201.90p diesel
- Bracknell Forest, Berkshire: 178.57p petrol, 201.65p diesel
- Conwy, Wales: 178.44p petrol, 201.13p diesel
Averages are worked out to two decimal places. Where two areas are level on petrol, the one with cheaper diesel is treated as the cheaper area. Northern Ireland is not included in the Britain ranking.
