Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd has demanded urgent action from the Government amid speculation that petrol prices are set to rise 4p per litre in the next few days.

The Petrol Retailers’ Association have today warned that a sharp increase in wholesale fuel prices since December is set to rise again in the coming days, and that this would have a knock-on effect on consumers.

Mr Llwyd, whose party has consistently called for tougher measures to tackle the soaring cost of fuel, insisted that a further rise would be wholly unfair and unsustainable, and would force ordinary families to tighten the purse-strings even more.

He added that a genuine fuel duty stabiliser, as supported by motoring organisation and the Federation of Small Business, should be introduced immediately in order to cap the price of petrol at the pump if it increases beyond expectation.

Mr Llwyd said:

"Since the beginning of the recession, fuel prices have been one of the main sources of rising inflation yet the Chancellor has failed to tackle this problem, instead choosing to introduce tax-cuts for the rich and slash payments for the elderly.

“Speculation that prices are set to rise by 4p a litre during the coming days is extremely worrying, particularly given the soaring costs of other essentials such as food and utilities.

"I am particularly concerned for rural communities in constituencies such as my own that are bearing the brunt of Government inaction on this issue. They are forced to spend significantly more on fuel than those in urban areas, and figures from the Office for National Statistics also show that poorer families spend more on their income on petrol than richer families.

"Plaid Cymru have been pushing for a genuine fuel duty stabiliser for the past decade. It is hugely disappointing to see that neither the Labour nor Conservative governments in London have agreed to this common sense idea. This must change without delay."