Petrol prices have surged to a 20-month high with the cost of fuel now at its highest point since September 2019, according to AA research.
The new data shows more than 2p a litre, or £1 a tank, has been added to the cost of petrol in the past month, with prices now averaging 128.43p a litre.
Diesel has risen in price too, and is now averaging 130.81p a - its highest since February 2020.
The price rises come as the UK continues to ease from lockdown restrictions, with Brits now able to venture from their homes and staycations allowed.
At its lowest point during the pandemic, petrol cost 106.48p a litre in May 2020, while diesel was at its lowest at 111.76p a litre in the same month.
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Supermarket petrol is between 4p and 7p a litre cheaper than it is at other retailers, with Asda the most affordable at 123.05 a litre on average this week.
At Sainsbury’s, the average price is 123.73 a litre, compared to 123.89 a litre at Morrisons and 125.92 a litre at Tesco.
Separately, research shared with This is Money showed how some motorway service stations are charging more than £1.50 a litre for their fuel.
It pointed out how drivers on the M4 can pay between 130.9p and 148.9p a litre for petrol, and between 134.9p and151.9p a litre for diesel.
Similar prices have also been recorded on M5, where petrol fluctuates between 134.9p and 148.9p a litre, and diesel between 138.9p and 151.9p a litre.
Experts at the AA are blaming a return of high oil prices - sparked by producers increasing exports - for the surge at the pumps.
It comes as inflation also jumped to 1.5% in April, up from 0.7% in March.
Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price spokesman, said: “Oil’s return to $70 a barrel - last seen in May 2019 - has propelled UK pump prices upward once more.
“They had stabilised for a fortnight in late April, but OPEC’s oil exports have jumped by one million barrels per day so far in May.
“Meanwhile, investment banks and other speculators are talking up the price, one predicting the biggest jump in oil demand in history.
“On the road, holidaymakers breaking free of lockdown face pump prices that are 14p a litre or £7.70 a tank more expensive than after the first lockdown in the summer of last year.”
