March 10 - The £6 gallon has arrived: Price of petrol hits historic high

Petrol prices have broken through the £6 a gallon barrier for the first time in history. Soaring oil costs have pushed the UK’s average price of unleaded above 132p a litre, figures from the AA reveal.

As some experts predicted the price could hit £7.50 a gallon, the motoring organisation branded the £6.00 mark ‘another milestone along the road to higher fuel prices’.

Motoring groups fear there is far worse to come as oil prices soar on the back of instability in the Middle East.  Major car companies are already planning for prices of more than $170 a barrel, though some analysts and speculators have predicted $200 a barrel.

‘Lower-income drivers, poorer rural residents, volunteer drivers, youngsters looking to their first jobs are some of the vulnerable groups struggling to stay on the road’. Middle East troubles have brought matters to a head, but the writing’s been on the wall for months.’

RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said: ‘Another day, another fuel price record. Now we see the average price of petrol hit the £6 a gallon barrier with no end in sight to the spiralling prices.