THE price of a litre of diesel varies by 20p - or an average of £11 for a full tank - in one Flintshire town as motorists in the UK are hit by record-high fuel costs.

In Flintshire alone, the price of both unleaded petrol and diesel vary a great deal between petrol stations.The Leader: The Esso in Connah's Quay.The Esso in Connah's Quay.

We compared the prices of fuel at petrol stations along the B5129 and A548 between Queensferry and Flint - a distance of seven miles - on Sunday.

There are five garages along that stretch, each selling fuel at different prices.

The prices were:

  • Asda, Queensferry, Unleaded Petrol 160.7p, Diesel 168.7p
  • Esso, Connah's Quay, Unleaded Petrol 165.9p, Diesel 175.9p
  • Esso, Queensferry, Unleaded Petrol 164.9p, Diesel 174.9p
  • Spar, Flint, Unleaded Petrol £159.9p, Diesel 169.9p
  • Shell, Flint, Unleaded 164.9p, Diesel 189.9p

There is even a discrepancy between garages of the same chain, with it costing 1p more per litre at the Esso in Connah's Quay than the one in Queensferry.

Diesel remains more expensive than petrol, with a difference of between 8 and 10p at most garages.

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But the most noticeable difference was in Flint where drivers of diesel vehicles can be changed a difference of 20p per litre depending on what petrol station they choose.

The Leader: The Esso in Queensferry.The Esso in Queensferry.

Diesel at the Spar petrol station on Chester Road cost 169.9p per litre.

But just a mile further down the road at the Shell garage a litre of diesel costs 189.9p - a difference of 20p.

Assuming an average car's tank capacity of 55 litres, this means a difference of £11 on a full tank of diesel.

It comes as motorists have been warned that the average cost of a litre of petrol is close to reaching a record of £1.65.

Fuel prices have broken new records as a slump in wholesale costs failed to make an impact at the pumps.

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Figures from data firm Experian Catalist show the average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts on Sunday was 163.5p, while diesel was 173.4p.

A month ago, pump prices were 148.0p per litre for petrol and 151.6p per litre for diesel.

In Flintshire, only eight petrol stations are selling unleaded petrol at less than 1.60p per litre.

The average cost of a litre of diesel was 167.4p on Wednesday, following an increase of 5.1p from the start of the week.

The Leader: The Shell petrol station in Flint.The Shell petrol station in Flint.

In Flintshire, according to the latest figures on PetrolPrices.com, the cheapest place to fill up on unleaded petrol is Morrisons in Saltney where it costs 154.9p a litre.

This is closely followed by the Tesco garage in  Mold where unleaded costs 157.9p per litre.

The most expensive place to fill up on unleaded petrol is the Shell garage on the Northop Hall service area on the A55 where it is priced at 167.9p per litre.

According to PetrolPrices.com, this is the most expensive place to buy diesel.

The latest data on the same site, says the cheapest place to fill up on diesel is Tesco in Mold. Here it costs 161.9p per litre.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said the average price of petrol “appears to be on a collision course with £1.65 a litre”.

He said: “While there will almost certainly be more rises this week, drivers should soon get some respite from pump prices jumping by several pence a litre every day as oil and wholesale prices appear to have settled.

“The price hikes seen over the weekend are still a result of the oil price rise which began at the start of the month and peaked early last week.

“As the oil price has now fallen back, we should hopefully reach the peak and start to see prices going the other way to reflect the big drop in wholesale costs seen at the end of last week, subject to no further spikes in the barrel price this week.”