Petrol prices Edinburgh: Here are the cheapest places to buy fuel in the Capital as petrol firms keep prices high

The cost of wholesale fuel has been falling over the course of the past month. However, motorists are not seeing a significant drop in price, as several retailers have hesitated in passing on savings to customers.

The cost of unleaded petrol is now less than 132p a litre, but drivers are paying an average of 183p – meaning a tank costs around £9 more than it should be.

The RAC has encouraged drivers to “shop around” to save money, so the Evening News have compiled a list of the cheapest places to buy fuel in Edinburgh today.

The Costco petrol station in Loanhead is currently the cheapest place to buy petrol in the Capital, according to Petrolprices.com. Unleaded is on sale for 170.7p a litre at the forecourt, however, a Costco membership is required to buy fuel at this filling station.

Morrisons Granton is selling Unleaded for 174.6p, making it the second most affordable option for fuel in the Capital.

Jet Edinburgh, Asda Leith and Morrisons on Portobello Road are all selling Unleaded for 174.7p.

Drivers can also get a good deal at the Asda Straiton, where Unleaded is being sold for 175.7p.

However, only one petrol station – Costco Loanhead – is selling petrol for the ‘fair price’. Last week, the RAC calculated a fair price for petrol, which was 174p per litre for Unleaded and 189p per litre for diesel. These numbers factor in the wholesale cost to retailers, a 7p per litre margin and VAT.

A recent RAC survey, which sampled more than 4,500 UK forecourts, found that only 157 petrol stations are selling a litre of petrol at between 170.9p and 179.9p, while 250 are retailing diesel at a price of between 180p and 189.9p.

The other 90 per cent are charging more than 180p for petrol, and almost 1,000 are charging in excess of 190p for unleaded.

RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: “July has been an unnecessarily tough month for drivers due to the big four supermarkets’ unwillingness to cut their prices to a more a reasonable level, reflecting the consistent and significant reductions in the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel.

“As it was, we saw independent retailers leading the charge with fairer pump prices appearing all around the country which eventually forced the supermarkets to finally implement a more substantial cut late last Friday afternoon.

“What ought to have happened is that the biggest retailers cut their prices more significantly on a daily basis, given the wholesale price of petrol has fallen steadily over the last eight weeks.’

He encouraged motorists to “shop around as it’s highly likely you’ll find an independent retailer which is doing the right thing and fairly reflecting their lower wholesale costs by charging a lower price”.

Mr Williams added: “This is really encouraging because the independents buy new stock less frequently than the supermarkets as they don’t sell as much, and consequently aren’t as well positioned as their rivals to be able to snap up fuel at lower prices when there are sudden market drops.”