Cab driver Arthur Grimes told the BBC he and his colleagues were also struggling with fuel prices.

“It goes up like a rock, it comes down like a feather,” he said.

“It’s been going on for years. This is not new, is it? Diesel should be cheaper than petrol, anyway, because it’s easier to refine.”

He described the fuel market generally as a “rip off”.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) met with ministers in Number 11 Downing Street earlier – a meeting the industry body had threatened to scrap due to what it called “inflammatory language” from politicians.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told retailers they had a “shared obligation” to keep prices down for motorists.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband added: “We won’t tolerate unfair practices either here or anywhere else in the industry.”

After the meeting, Gordon Balmer, of the PRA, said: “We engaged in constructive discussion with the government on this, and we are working collaboratively with them.”