PETROL prices, which have passed the £1 a litre bracket in many garages, look set to rise throughout the summer season, according to industry experts.

But a Bournemouth University expert believes that predictions of fuel reaching £1.15 a litre is “wholly pessimistic”.

At the moment the south west and Northern Ireland have the most expensive unleaded petrol in the country, and East Anglia has the most expensive diesel.

The AA said the average price rose almost five pence between mid-May and mid-June, the second highest monthly increase ever, and the cost of refilling a typical 50-litre tank has gone up £2.49 in the past month.

The average cost of petrol is now 102.66p a litre compared with 97.68p in mid-May.

The average price of diesel has risen 1.36p since mid-May and is now 104.85p.

AA president Edmund King said: “To the average UK driver this is looking like another summer of petrol price madness.

“If we continue to see fuel prices at these levels, the chancellor should abandon all plans for the 2p tax increase in September as that would further dent economic recovery.”

A spokesman for the Petrol Retailers Association told the Daily Echo the price would depend on a number of circumstances.

“The price of fuel tends to rise every summer because of increasing demand when people tend to drive more,” he said.

“There’s nothing unusual about prices going up at this time of year. We would expect them to start to go down in August.

“The price of oil is affected by speculation in the oil markets. On the retail front the price of petrol at the pump is directly related to the price they paid at wholesale when it was originally refined.

“If it goes up the price of fuel will go up in six to eight weeks time.”

Jeff Bray, retail expert at Bournemouth University, said: “A prediction of £1.15 in the summer is wholly pessimistic. You have a little bit of a seasonal adjustment.

“I don’t see any reason to believe that prices will get to that.”

  • Latest fuel prices (as of June 17: Shell, Barrack Road, Christchurch – unleaded: 102.9; diesel: 104.9 Esso, Hinton Service Station, New Forest – unleaded: 105.9; diesel: 106.9 BP, Castle Lane East, Bournemouth – unleaded: 106.9; diesel: 112.9 Westview, Charminster Road, Bournemouth – unleaded 101.9; diesel: 104.9 BP, Wimborne Road, Wimborne – unleaded 107.9; diesel 106.9 Shell, Ringwood Road, Ringwood – unleaded 101.9; diesel 103.9