UK petrol prices are closing in on all-time high, warns RAC

Cost per litre nears the record 142.48 set in April 2012, stoked by global demand outpacing supply rather than UK fuel shortage

Petrol prices could reach all-time highs before Christmas, the RAC warned, signalling misery" for motorists still reeling from the fuel shortage crisis.

Amid signs that the number of petrol forecourts running dry was easing, the drivers' organisation warned that anxiety about whether motorists could fill up their tanks was likely to be replaced by concern about how much it would cost.