REVEALED: Motorists pay up to £12 more to fill up their tanks at petrol stations that are less than three miles apart as Government faces mounting pressure to rein in rip-off fuel sellers

• Motorists at Toddington services were charged 173.9p a litre for petrol or diesel
• But just three miles away they could buy 151.9p for petrol and 152.9p for diesel
• Huge discrepancies are exacerbating fears that motorists are being ripped off

Filling up your car can be £12 more expensive at petrol stations less than three miles apart.

Every motorist knows that buying fuel at a motorway service station is likely to be the dearest option – but by just how much might come as a surprise.

Motorists at the BP garage at Toddington services on the M1 near Luton on Friday were being charged 173.9p a litre for both petrol and diesel.

However, approximately three miles away off Junction 11 an Esso service station was charging 151.9p for petrol and 152.9p for diesel.

That means the cost of a typical 55-litre tank would be around £95 at the motorway pumps and between £83 and £84 at the Esso.

Motorists could be paying up to £12 more for their petrol at service stations, with lower prices available away from the motorways, a new survey has found, fueling fears that motorists are being ripped off

Meanwhile, drivers in the Midlands were paying 178.9p for petrol, and a penny more for diesel, at Tamworth services on the M42, meaning it would cost around £98 to fill the average tank.

Yet with petrol and diesel costing 147.8p and 146.8p respectively at the Applegreen garage on Derby Road – 33 miles away – the same tank could be filled for about £81: a whopping £17 difference.

And it’s a similar story north of the border.

At the Stirling services just off the M80 and M9, drivers were being charged 173.9p for both unleaded and diesel. 

A few miles away in Stirling itself, the prices were 153.9p for unleaded and 155.9p for diesel.

Such huge discrepancies will exacerbate fears that motorists are being ripped off. They will also intensify pressures on the Government to rein in prices.

Ministers are proposing a new scheme that will require petrol stations and other retailers to share petrol and diesel prices via an app or central platform

In fact, ministers have already committed themselves to a price-watch scheme so that motorists can make a more informed decision about where they fill up.

The proposed new scheme, which would be operated by regulators, will require petrol stations and other retailers to share petrol and diesel prices via an app or central platform.

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