Retail online chief says prices will have to go up if diesel continues to soar after breaking £2-a-litre barrier

One of the UK's largest online retailers has warned they will have to put up prices if diesel prices continue to soar after reaching a record high of over £2 a litre.Mike Tomkins, owner of M and M Direct, said his company was struggling to absorb shipping and freight costs and not to pass them on to the consumer.And he warned that if prices did not come down from their highest ever level, a share of the soaring costs would soon have to be passed on by the company, one of Europe's largest online discount retailers.'The situation is a lot more volatile than it has been and what really worries me is the fuel shortages which will affect the whole economy and business – it's a very dangerous time,' he told the BBC today.'I have been in business 45 years and this feels like the most unstable time in business in my whole career.'His comments came as motorists face the highest ever costs at the pumps with the average price of diesel now above £2 a litre according to the RAC.The cost of filling an average family car with diesel has soared by almost a third – and is now £110, almost £32 more than it was at the start of the US-Iran war, the motoring organisation said.Criticising the government for piling costs on to UK businesses, Mr Tomkins called for 'a more pro business stance' in this month's Budget. Mike Tomkins, owner of M and M Direct, has said prices will have to go up if diesel continues to soar after petrol stations have begun charging £2 per litre Many garages in the UK are already charging £2 a litre for diesel for the first time (File image) 'We are all still reeling from the National Insurance rises a while back and the persistent minimum wage rises,' he told Radio 4's Today programme. 'So I would like to see on the fuel side some potential reduction in VAT and I would like to see a government that are pro business, that really talk to smart people in business.'You cannot keep the tax burden going the way it is. It is creeping up and up and in the end will really harm the country if we don't have a better tax regime.'Up to a third of some of the business's orders are now taken up by fuel surcharges, he warned, with his business paying £8,000 extra a day in fuel surcharges already to transport providers.'On a daily basis we have couriers that ship out goods overnight to the consumers the following day and we are being surcharged a huge amount on a daily basis and they have to pass it on to use but we are holding back to see how long we can go on,' he explained.'This is real – we are not passing on yet but how long can businesses carry on without increasing shipping and freight costs to our end users to the customer?''We have really tried to be a competitive business operating fantastic deals with fantastic brands but we can't go on forever like this if this thing keeps going out of control,' he added.With diesel hitting an average of 200.01p a litre, petrol prices are also still surging, reaching 174.71p a litre on average, according to the RAC.The cost of filling a typical petrol car has risen to £96.09, the RAC said, up £23.03 since February.It warned yesterday that price rises were 'showing no signs of slowing, heaping more misery onto motorists'.Calling it a 'price threshold no one wanted to cross', RAC policy head Simon Williams warned it would be 'very challenging for households and companies that drive a lot of miles, from commuters, haulage and delivery firms, businesses with large fleets all the way through to sole traders'.Meanwhile G7 nations agreed yesterday on an emergency release of 100 million barrels of oil to try and stem future price rises but this is expected to take some time to have an impact.The record prices have been triggered by a perfect storm of the Iran War and the ongoing conflict in UkraineMeanwhile the situation has intensified as China has also restricted exports of refined fuels.With UK farms also relying heavily on diesel for tractors and transport, farmers have warned they face even tougher times.Farmer Mark Means from Norfolk told the BBC yesterday that he was 'frightened to death' by the rising cost of diesel, warning it felt like 'an assault'.But seeking to quell growing concern from UK businesses and consumers, a government spokesperson said that the country had 'a diverse and resilient supply', commenting:'We continue to engage with our international partners and the UK fuel industry'.