Transport and motoring groups have urged the Chancellor to axe planned fuel duty hikes as pump prices rapidly close in on all-time highs.

Latest data from the RAC shows the average prices of both petrol and diesel have edged up yet again, with unleaded hitting 171.27p a litre and diesel 193.85p as of 16 September 2026.

Both fuels have surged by 10p since just the start of this month as a result of the Iran war, putting acute pressure on households.

The average diesel price is now just 5p off 2022’s all-time high of 199p – and the RAC has warned this watershed looks increasingly likely to be breached within the next week if prices keep rising this quickly.

The price surge comes on the back of the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, which showed the headline rate of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose from 2.9% in July to 3.1% in August. The increase was heavily driven by a 20.2% annual rise in petrol prices and a 27.8% jump in diesel.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said the situation has deteriorated further in September, with oil prices having pushed past the $100-a-barrel threshold last week. This is exacerbated by ongoing global fuel supply pressures, with the Iran War disrupting oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz and attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels affecting Saudi Arabia’s alternative export route via the Red Sea.

The RAC said the fuel rises are likely to have a particularly detrimental effect on businesses big and small that rely on diesel-powered vans and lorries. These increased costs could unfortunately be passed on to consumers in order to balance the books.

“The pressure on the Government to act to support households in the Budget, which is exactly six weeks away on 28 October, is only going to intensify,” said Simon Williams, RAC head of policy. “Whether that’s abandoning plans to raise fuel duty, cutting the tax or even reducing VAT on fuel, there are levers that can be pulled and nothing should be off the table for the Chancellor next month.”

The PRA echoed these warnings, saying that forecourt operators cannot absorb these levels of wholesale price increases without putting their businesses at risk, and stressing that it was inevitable that increases would be reflected in prices paid at the pump.

Gordon Balmer, executive director of the PRA, said: “Retailers understand the pressures motorists are facing, but they cannot absorb sustained increases in wholesale fuel costs. With prices continuing to rise, we are urging the Chancellor to abandon the planned fuel duty increase and avoid adding further pressure at the pump.”

The latest calls for Chancellor John Healey to axe the fuel duty hike come just days after the Road Haulage Association (RHA) said that families will face higher prices in the shops if the planned fuel duty rises go ahead early next year.

RHA managing director Richard Smith said: “A fuel duty hike is a food price hike. Almost everything on a supermarket shelf got there on a lorry. There is nowhere for additional costs to go but onto customers and onto the shelf. Where it can’t be passed on, firms go under.”

In its Budget submission to the Treasury, the road transport trade body pointed to commissioned research that finds a 5p rise would add £1.9bn a year to household living costs and £2,325 a year to the cost of running a single lorry. The RHA highlighted that 85% of all goods in the UK move by road, adding that haulage firms typically run on margins of 2%, and hundreds have gone bust this year.

For drivers, industry bodies are advising to use price-tracking tools to locate the cheapest forecourts in their local areas.

Eco and EV experts have also pointed out that EV drivers are shielded from fuel price shocks.

Gurjeet Grewal, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “While petrol drivers agonise at the pump, EV drivers have been largely unaffected, and that is one key reason why more people are switching to EVs.”