Petrol prices have rocketed to a pump near-record after the switch to the new 'greener' E10 fuel.
Figures show average prices moved within a fraction of 1p of the record on Thursday, reaching 142.16p per litre. Previously the highest price recorded was 142.48p in April 2012.
It comes after it was revealed that more than a third of drivers in Britain were unable to buy fuel at the height of the shortages crisis, figures suggest.
Some 37% were unable to buy fuel over the past two weeks, because it was not available, when surveyed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) between October 6 and 17.
This is more than twice the proportion (15%) that reported difficulties when asked by the stats body two weeks prior.
Petrol station stock levels now fully recovered, according to figures this week from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Stock levels dropped to a low of 15% on September 25 due to panic-buying which saw many filling stations run dry.
The ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, of 4,004 people, found that the proportion of adults struggling to buy food and medicine remained roughly the same as it was a fortnight ago.
High fuel prices at Shell Garage, Kirkcaldy, Fife. Oct 21 2021 In the coming days the average price of fuel is expected to exceed the 2012 record
The RAC said filling up would be cheaper if E5 had not been replaced by 'greener' E10 as the standard fuel last month, and stressed that 'greedy retailers fleecing motorists' was also a factor in the soaring prices
About one in six adults (16%) reported they had not been able to buy essential food items because they were not available (down from 17%).
The proportion unable to buy non-essential food items remained at 23%.
The same proportion of adults reported waiting longer for prescriptions (13%) or having to go to more pharmacies to find what they needed (4%).
Overall, 47% said everything they needed had been available to buy - a 10 percentage point fall from two weeks ago.
The switch to 'greener' petrol has been blamed on fuelling soaring prices at the pumps which could overtake the all-time record within days.
The rising cost of filling up will pile pressure on Rishi Sunak not to increase fuel duty in next week's Budget – the levy has been frozen at 57.95p per litre for 11 years.
The RAC said filling up would be cheaper if E5 had not been replaced by 'greener' E10 as the standard fuel last month, and stressed that 'greedy retailers fleecing motorists' was also a factor in the soaring prices.
But a Government spokesman dismissed the idea that the higher content of costly ethanol in E10 had pushed up prices.
The wholesale price of ethanol has surged more than 50 per cent since August 31, the day before E10 started being rolled out at forecourts.
The RAC stressed that the biggest factors in surging pump prices
