British motorists experienced the highest monthly hike in petrol prices last month since records began in 2000.
RAC analysis highlighted the average cost of a litre of petrol rose by 16.6p to 191.4p in June, despite five consecutive weeks of declining wholesale costs for fuel retailers, increasing the cost of filling up an average 55-litre family petrol car by £9 in June alone.
"The rate at which pump prices have been rising over the last four weeks is hard to comprehend," said RAC's fuel spokesman Simon Williams. "Not a day in June went by when petrol prices didn't go up, even though the price retailers pay to buy in fuel went down.”
Profits for retailers doubled to 12p a litre from a long-term typical figure of 6p.
Meanwhile, diesel prices surged 15.6p per litre in June to close the month at 199.1p.
Williams has urged the Treasury and government to act swiftly in supporting drivers at a time of record pump prices.
"Perhaps it has something do with the fact that it's benefiting significantly from the increased VAT revenue caused by the high prices,” Williams commented.
RAC figures show that duty and VAT currently account for 85p (44%) of the 191.43p average cost of a litre of petrol, and 86p of the 199.05p cost of diesel.