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Your guide to cheap petrol...well cheaper anyway

The rising cost of petrol in the UK seems inescapable – unless you know where to shop.

The country is currently gripped by soaring fuel prices, with drivers now paying an average of 113.67p for a litre of unleaded petrol – an increase of more than 13p in just six months – and around 126.4p a litre for diesel.

The rocketing costs have prompted Kent lorry drivers to embark on a second London protest on Tuesday, following their successful convoy to Downing Street last month, with around 1,000 UK truckers heading to the capital to hand a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

But any motorist planning to join the convoy would do well to fill up in a couple of select Kent filling stations, rather than paying sky-high London prices for a tank of fuel.

According to fuel price comparison site petrolprices.com, Kent drivers can pay as little as 109.9p a litre for petrol at certain mainstream stations.

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~ Do you know anywhere in Kent selling cheaper petrol than this? Where is the best place to fill up in the county in your opinion? What is the most you have paid for fuel in recent weeks? Let us know on our SpeakOut >>>

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Gravesend and Strood residents are the luckiest for petrol, with the Shell garage at Northfleet garage and the Jet Park station in Strood trading at 109.9p – 4p below the national average.

Dartford comes in a close second, with three filling stations selling petrol at 110.9p, as do a couple of Jet stations in Sheerness and Rochester. Most garages sell at around 111.9p, though prices can differ largely between pumps in one town.

Folkestone residents visiting the Jet garage in Tram Road can expect to pay a fairly reasonable 112.9p a litre, but stop off at the TCS station at the Eurotunnel and the price soars to 115.9p a litre.

London remains the most expensive region for petrol in the country - drivers at the Chelsea Cloisters forecourt in Sloane Avenue were paying 139.9p a litre earlier this month.

The cheapest region is Yorkshire and Humberside.

~ Your guide to Kent's cheapest filling stations >>>

But whatever the cost at the pump, the Petrol Retailers’ Association warns consumers not to assume forecourt owners are raking in the profits.

A spokesman said: "When prices are high for consumers, they are also high for the retailers. Many are selling fuel at a loss, or are making between 2p and no profit at all.

"Most forecourts stay afloat because of sales from their shops, not from the pumps."

Fuel prices are rising through a combination of shortage of refineries, an increase in demand overseas, extra demand during the summer months, and more people investing in oil.

The PRA spokesman added: "The windfall the Government is making through the tax on fuel is very high, and the amount they are making means they could reduce the tax levels and still make a profit."

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