BRITISH motorists are beating soaring UK fuel prices by filling up in France, according to P&O Ferries.

Service stations across the Channel report booming trade from Brits cashing in on diesel prices that are more than 20 pence a litre lower than at home.

P&O Ferries' French staff say the lowest price they have seen for diesel locally this week is just 1.099 euros, at the Auchan hypermarket.

That works out at just 76 pence a litre, while UK diesel prices are nudging the £1 mark. Unleaded petrol prices are only slightly lower in France.

Monsieur Guy Fontaine, manager of the Auchan fuel station, said: "We have hundreds of British drivers coming to us every day to save money on diesel fuel. They know they can make a very big saving."

Return tickets for a car and passengers on the 90-minute Dover - Calais route with P&O Ferries start from £20 for a day trip, so ferry bosses say the savings on a tank of fuel alone can now cover much of the cost of a trip.