Tesco and Asda have cut up to three pence per litre off fuel prices.
Asda was the first of the supermarket giants to announce it was cutting prices, with a national cap meaning motorists will be charged no more than 110.7 pence per litre (ppl) for unleaded and 112.7ppl for diesel at its 294 filling stations from Tuesday.
Tesco is implementing a price cut at its 500 filling stations from Monday afternoon.
Government figures show that average fuel prices have reached their highest level since July last year, with motorists being charged 116.6ppl for petrol and 119ppl for diesel.
Prices have risen in recent months following a crash in the value of sterling in the wake of the EU referendum.
The RAC claimed that although the reduction in pump prices was “clearly good news”, it has come “far too late” as the wholesale price of fuel has been falling along with oil prices since the end of October.
Simon Williams, the motoring organisation’s fuel spokesman, said: “Retailers should have reduced their prices then rather than making one bigger headline-grabbing cut now.
“This will sadly undermine motorists’ trust in fuel retailers and it’s hard not to see it as them taking advantage of the current climate, which has led people to think that higher fuel prices are an inevitability simply because of the weaker pound and talk of the rising cost of goods.
“In fact there is still scope to reduce pump prices further.”
AA president Edmund King said the price drop will “take some of the sting out of the high pump prices”.
But he added: “Yo-yo oil prices mean that we may see costs reverse yet again.”
Tesco’s fuel director, Peter Cattell, said: “With the busy festive season just around the corner, we know many of our customers will be starting to prepare for the big day. So to provide a little extra help we’re cutting the cost of petrol and diesel by up to three pence per litre at all of our 500 filling stations.”
Asda’s senior director for petrol, Andy Peake, said: “Asda is once again leading the way in reducing the price at the pumps to help the millions of motorists across the UK.
“Our new national price cap of 110.7ppl on unleaded and 112.7ppl on diesel will be welcomed by the millions of drivers who have seen fuel prices rise since Brexit.”
