Hundreds queue at Costco petrol station amid rising fuel prices and empty pumps

Hundreds of drivers have been pictured queuing at a petrol station in Glasgow amid rising fuel prices.

As the price of petrol and diesel reached their highest level in years, drivers have been opting to fill their tanks.

Queues have formed at Costco in Glasgow’s Springburn with some pumps already empty.

It comes as new figures showed that the cost of filling a typical family car with diesel has exceeded £100 for the first time in more than three years.

Average diesel prices at UK forecourts on Tuesday were 182.8p per litre, up 40p since the start of the conflict in the Middle East on February 28, the RAC said.

Hundreds of motorists appear to be panic-buying at Costco in Glasgow. James Chapelard

That means it costs £100.52 to fill a 55-litre family car, breaching the £100 mark for the first time since December 2022.

The average cost of petrol is 152.8p per litre, an increase of 20p since the war began. The previous peak was in June 2022, when the figure reached 99.3p.

Oil prices have soared in response to Iran’s stranglehold on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Data compiled from the pump price comparison website PetrolPrices.com shows that a litre of diesel costs up to 217.0p at some forecourts in rural Scotland.

The Prime Minister is to chair a meeting of the Cobra crisis committee as the cost to households from the war in Iran was laid bare.

Average energy bills are forecast to rise by almost £300 from July.

Keir Starmer said the Cobra meeting will look at “making sure that everything that we need to have in place” to respond to the crisis is set up.

In Glasgow, long queues continued to develop today at Costco, with many pumps showing empty. James Chapelard

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already indicated that targeted help for poorer households could be available if bills continue to rise, with particular worries in Government about the impact in the autumn when energy use increases as temperatures drop.

The price most households pay for energy under regulator Ofgem’s cap will fall by £117-a-year to £1,641 from Wednesday, driven by the Government’s promise to cut bills by an average of £150 by removing green subsidies.

But respected energy analyst Cornwall Insight said its prediction for the watchdog’s price cap from July to September now stands at £1,929 for a typical dual fuel household – an increase of £288 or 18% on April’s cap.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump said the UK and other countries which did not take part in strikes against Iran should secure the Strait of Hormuz themselves.

The US president said countries which “refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran” should “build up some delayed courage, go to the strait and just take it”.

In the latest sign that his Middle East campaign has severely damaged long-standing relationships, Trump suggested its allies will “have to start learning how to fight for yourself”.

The UK was the only country named in a post by Trump on his Truth Social platform.