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The fuel price postcode lottery: cheapest and dearest towns right now

Our data · by the Pricewatcher team · updated 1 September 2026

A litre of E10 is the same product everywhere in Britain — same standard, often the same refinery. What you pay for it depends, to a startling degree, on your postcode. This page is generated from our live price data across the UK towns we track, and it updates as the data does.

Right now, the gap between the cheapest and dearest town we track is 17.8p per litre — about £9.79 on a 55-litre tank, for identical fuel.

Cheapest towns today (best local E10 price)

#TownCheapest E10Where
1Luton141.9p/LFlamstead Filling Station
2Wolverhampton142.9p/LSAINSBURYS WOLVERHAMPTON
3Belfast143.9p/LSAINSBURYS FORESTSIDE
4Ipswich143.9p/LSAINSBURYS HADLEIGH ROAD
5Manchester144.9p/LSAINSBURYS DENTON
6Stoke-on-Trent144.9p/LSAINSBURYS NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME
7Leeds145.9p/LSAINSBURYS LEEDS COLTON
8Glasgow145.9p/LBP ELMBANK
9Edinburgh145.9p/LSAINSBURYS MURRAYFIELD
10Nottingham145.9p/LSAINSBURYS MELTON ROAD NOTTINGHAM

Dearest towns today

#TownCheapest E10Where
1Aberdeen159.7p/LASDA MIDDLETON PARK SUPERSTORE
2Cambridge155.9p/LMFG ORCHARD
3Coventry154.9p/LMFG OAK
4Brighton154.9p/LMFG DOWNSWAY
5Blackpool154.7p/LASDA BLACKPOOL SUPERSTORE
6Exeter153.9p/LSAINSBURYS ALPHINGTON ROAD
7Hull153.9p/LASDA FERRY LANE EXPRESS PETROL
8Milton Keynes153.9p/LMFG VIKING
9Portsmouth153.9p/LMFG NORTH END
10Swindon152.9p/LSAINSBURYS STRATTON

For the national picture behind these local numbers, see the UK Fuel Price Index — average petrol, diesel and public EV charging prices, updated daily.

Why the lottery exists

  • Supermarket density. Towns with several competing supermarket forecourts are reliably cheap; towns without one pay a structural premium.
  • Local competition. Two stations within sight of each other discipline one another; a village monopolist has no such pressure.
  • Costs and logistics. Rents, wages and tanker distance all vary — but they explain far less of the gap than competition does.

What to do with this

You cannot move house for petrol, but the same effect operates within towns: the spread between stations five minutes apart is routinely 8–12p. Check your own area with a live search — and if your town looks expensive here, the cheapest station in it is still linked from its town page.

See today’s prices near you — fuel and EV charging, live, free, no app needed: search now.

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