Petrol prices hit 169.9p a litre with panic at the pumps in Iran war chaos

Frustrated drivers are complaining of UK petrol stations running out of fuel and huge queues at forecourts after war broke out in the Middle East. One radio phone in caller claimed prices had gone up 11p a litre where he lives in Cornwall.

Prices continue to vary wildly across Britain as panic buyers try to get ahead of soaring oil prices, with the knock-on effects of the Iran-US war already being felt by motorists.

The Mirror's interactive map shows that drivers in Maidstone, Kent, are currently paying 137.9p per litre of petrol at the pump - 6.4p above the national average of 131.5p, equivalent to £39.45 for half a tank of petrol. The most expensive however to date is Asda in Bothwell, near Glasgow, where a 3p rise means motorists are now being charged a whopping 169.9p per litre.

The latest update from the Mirror's data unit at 11am on Wednesday morning (March 4th) shows several pumps have increased by 6p a litre.

These include: Sainsbury's in Bury St. Edmunds, up from £125.9 to £131.9, Jet in Great Yarmouth, up from £125.9 to £131.9, Texaco in Heanor, Derbys, up from £125.7 to £131.7. At least nine other garages have put up prices by 5p a litre.

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However drivers are shopping around for cheaper offers, which is contributing to forecourt queues. For example in contrast to the Maidstone prices, a 50-minute drive to Thanet sees charges drop to 126.5p, or £34.79 for half a tank. In Lisburn and Castlereagh, Northern Ireland, you'll be paying just 121.4p - about £30 on a half-full 50-litre tank.

But it's not just petrol affected, and one caller into LBC this morning said diesel prices at his local petrol station in Cornwall had risen 11p compared to when he last visited the pump just two days earlier.

Describing a busy scene as drivers jostle to buy fuel at lower prices before further increases, one driver wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "I passed 4 petrol stations all with huge queues." While another said: "Lengthy queues in Bristol for fuel. Some out of petrol already"

Not everyone was impressed by the flurry of activity, as one social media user commented: "When the tank runs out you’ll have to pay inflated price anyway."

Some have likened the developing situation to the 1973 oil crisis. This saw prices at British petrol stations nearly double, after OPEC oil producing countries enforced an embargo on all countries perceived to have supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

This time, it's Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz - a vital shipping route used to transport oil from the Middle East to the rest of the world - that's causing oil prices to soar.

Just five tankers passed through the narrow waterway on March 1, the day after the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran began, compared to a typical 60 per day.

Yesterday, brent crude briefly climbed to $82 (£61) a barrel, its highest level since January last year.

These hikes directly affect British consumers, as the majority of petrol in forecourts here is imported. Only 13% of petrol sold in forecourts comes from North Sea oil.

Alasdair Locke, Chairman of Motor Fuel Group, the UK's largest owner of petrol station forecourts, told Radio 4's Today programme that petrol prices increasing at the pump will "inevitably" rise as a result of the new conflict.

He said: "It depends on how long the situation continues and what the eventual outcome will be. The two main components of the price of petrol are, of course, tax and the price of oil.

"With the price of oil going up, that is inevitably going to feed through in due course to higher prices at the pump. And it will depend on how long and how high those prices go as to how high the price of fuel will be."

US Donald Trump has already signalled that Operation Epic Fury could last "much longer" than five weeks, while there are fears that the conflict could spiral into a 'forever war' as Iran's rulers desperately cling on for power - meaning more disruption to the strait, and more wild fluctuations in oil prices are likely.

But there are some industry voices calling for calm, including RAC head of policy Simon Williams, who said it was "not a certainty" that drivers will be paying significantly higher prices for fuel.

"The oil price would have to rise significantly and stay that way for some time to have a dramatic effect", he said.