UK motorists are only paying slightly more for fuel now than in 1980 due to the better fuel economy of today’s cars, says Which?

In 1980 the family favourite Ford Cortina 2.0 petrol averaged 27 miles per gallon (mpg). Fuel cost 28p a litre, which when adjusted for inflation would give an annual fuel bill of £1,889 (based on the UK average of 12,000 miles a year). Today the closest equivalent to the Cortina, the Mondeo 2.0-litre petrol, averages 34.9mpg in Which? tests. Based on petrol costs of £1.29 per litre this gives an average annual spend of £1,915.

That’s little more than UK motorists were spending on fuel in 1980 when oil prices were also high, but the equivalent figures for 1990 (£1,408) and 2000 (£1,634) show that the price of filling up has risen rather more markedly in the last two decades.

Which? also found that shopping around for fuel could save you more than £200 a year after it investigated how petrol prices vary across thousands of UK stations. Which? found that supermarket brands were generally cheapest, especially Asda, while, on average, BP was the most expensive.

Richard Headland, editor, Which? Car, says: "Even in these times of record pump prices, there are ways to minimise how much you spend on fuel. The simplest is to shop around for the best deal in your area, which could save you a packet."