Drivers paying £10 a gallon for fuel at record number of UK forecourts amid soaring petrol and diesel prices, piling pressure on Labour to abandon New Year Fuel Duty hike

Published: 04:52 EDT, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 05:17 EDT, 7 October 2026 Filling up has surged past £10 a gallon for the first time at dozens of forecourts, analysis today finds.Data show the cost of diesel has surged to £2.20 a litre at up to 150 stations – the equivalent of £10 for an imperial gallon.This is the traditional measurement for fuel and it is believed to be a record number of forecourts where it has hit the £10 milestone.Hitting the milestone will pile pressure on Labour to abandon plans to hike Fuel Duty in the New Year after average diesel prices surged to an all-time record of more than £2 a litre last week.It comes as a mega poll found more than half of drivers are cutting back on journeys because of sky-high pump prices.Six in ten said they were 'driving a lot less' since February, when the US launched war on Iran, sending the cost of petrol and diesel spiralling. In turn, it has stoked inflation.Highlighting the hit to the wider economy, nearly seven in ten said they were cutting spending elsewhere as many said driving less wasn't an option because their vehicles were a 'lifeline' for getting to work, doing school runs or attending appointments. Data show the cost of diesel has surged to £2.20 a litre at up to 150 stations – the equivalent of £10 for an imperial gallon Diesel prices have hit £10 a gallon - or £2.20 a litre - at several UK forecourts, including this one near Winchester Chancellor John Healey is under growing pressure to abandon plans to hike Fuel Duty in the New Year The mega poll of nearly 10,000 people, by the Petrol Prices website, found nearly nine in ten supported freezing or cutting Fuel Duty from January 1, when the current freeze on the levy expires.It will pile pressure on Chancellor John Healey to ditch the planned hike in his first Budget later this month.RAC Foundation Director Steve Gooding said: ‘Drivers who thought they would save money from the better fuel economy diesel offered over petrol cars will be thinking again now that their forecourt prices are starting to hit £10-a-gallon.‘A £10 per gallon diesel price is not just bad news for diesel car drivers, it’s bad news for everyone as the operators of the many commercial vehicles – vans, trucks and lorries – that are still diesel-powered seek to recover the extra costs they now face.‘Getting out of fossil fuels altogether might be the answer for the longer term, but company balance sheets are all about the here and now, something we can only hope the Chancellor has in the front of his mind when putting his Budget plans together.’Some haulage firms have seen their weekly diesel fuel bills surge by hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is largely passed on to consumers via higher prices on supermarket and shop shelves.The RAC Foundation analysis of listed forecourt prices found standard diesel was being sold at more than £2.20 at nearly ten forecourts across the country. It was being sold at up to 219.9p at up to a further 144 forecourts.Under current plans, Fuel Duty will rise by 3p per litre on January 1, with another 2p rise on March 1.The Treasury is also scheduled to end the 16-year freeze on Fuel Duty next year, adding a further 1p in April.VAT will add another 1.2p a litre. The combined 7.2p increase would add almost £4 to the cost of filling up a family car with petrol. Diesel prices have hit £10 a gallon - or £2.20 a litre - at several UK forecourts, including this one in Southampton Some haulage firms have seen their weekly diesel fuel bills surge by hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is largely passed on to consumers via higher prices on supermarket and shop shelves Treasury sources have said that 'no decision' has been taken on the Fuel Duty increases.But retaining the 5p duty cut alone would cost the Treasury £2.4billion a year at a time when Mr Healey is struggling to balance the books.According to RAC figures, average diesel prices across the UK were 200.17p yesterday and 174.91p for petrol. A government spokesman said: ‘Since the outset of the war in Iran this government continues to protect the British people and businesses from this crisis.‘This means drivers benefit from the extension of the 5p Fuel Duty cut, with diesel 11p per litre cheaper until the end of the year than it would have been compared to plans inherited from the previous government.’