In the last few weeks Caravan Times has added its voice to the growing number of organisations and individuals protesting against the rising price of fuel. While Britain finds itself still in the throes of recession, the cost of owning and using a towcar is becoming difficult for some households to bear.
And it appears things are not getting easier for caravanners after petrol prices reached a historic high today. For the first time in history prices broke through the £6-a-gallon barrier – and analysts report there will be further increases.
According to the AA, the average price of petrol is now 132.12p a litre. Meanwhile diesel has also made the history books at a record 137.92p a litre. Since the beginning of 2011 the cost of petrol has risen by 6.93p a litre, and the AA revealed it has increased by 1.68p in the last week alone.
Unrest in the Middle East
The motoring organisation calculated that for a family with two petrol cars the monthly cost of fuel has risen from £242.70 in March 2010 to £280.54 today. A number of caravanners are two-car households, owning both a daily runaround and a dedicated towcar vehicle.
While part of the increase can be attributed to rising fuel duty and VAT, the instability in the Middle East and North Africa is a major factor. The price of a barrel of oil has risen sharply from $85 a barrel to $113, and economists believe this is just the beginning.
“The writing’s been on the wall for months”
AA president Edmund King has been an outspoken campaigner on the issue of rising fuel prices, and was disappointed by today’s announcement.
He said: “£6 a gallon is not just another milestone along the road to higher fuel prices, it marks the point at which the wheels start to come off mobility in 21st-century UK.
“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.
“The Government must act urgently to reduce the burden of high fuel duty and VAT. In the meantime, drivers are going to have to manage as best as they can, by cutting out journeys, driving more economically and hoping that a stronger pound will cushion some of the blow.
“But these high prices are already leaving casualties among drivers, consumers and business.”
