I Analysed 5,110 UK Petrol Stations. Where Fuel Is Cheapest and Where You're Overpaying.

The cheapest petrol in the UK right now is 142.2p per litre. The most expensive is 196.9p. Same fuel type. Same week. That's a 54.7p difference, and most drivers have no idea it exists.

I pulled live data from the UK Government's fuel finder scheme covering 5,110 stations across the country. I excluded motorway services from the analysis because they charge captive prices to drivers who can't easily leave. Then I ran a city-by-city breakdown of 20 major cities and towns. The price gaps cost families hundreds of pounds a year, and the patterns repeat in every location.

The national picture: 142.2p to 196.9p

The UK national average for E10 unleaded is 158.5p per litre (April 2026, excluding motorway stations). Averages hide the extremes.

At the cheap end, Dimes at Gloucester is selling E10 at 142.2p. Costco warehouses in Birmingham, Leeds, Derby, and Liverpool are at 147.9p. At the expensive end, an Esso forecourt on Chatham Road in Maidstone charges 196.9p. That's a standard street forecourt, not a motorway service station. It charges more per litre than every motorway station in the country.

The gap between cheapest and most expensive is 54.7p per litre. On a 55-litre tank, that's £30 per fill. Over a year, switching from the most expensive to the cheapest station near you saves £300 to £400.

The 20 cities and towns ranked

I compared average E10 prices across 20 UK cities and towns. Every station within each area is grouped using the government's official location data, with motorway stations excluded. 1,400 stations across all 20 locations, every price, ranked.

The cheapest five:

Belfast leads at 154.2p average, 4.3p below the national average, with 95 stations reporting. Bradford is second at 156.0p. Swansea is third at 156.5p. Middlesbrough (156.6p) and Leeds (157.2p) round out the top five.

Belfast's 4.3p advantage is significant. The gap between second place (Bradford) and fifth place (Leeds) is just 1.2p. Belfast is in a league of its own.

The most expensive five:

Aberdeen is the most expensive at 161.9p, 3.4p above the national average. Leicester is second at 161.3p. Edinburgh (159.9p), Southampton (159.3p), and Glasgow (159.0p) complete the bottom five.

Aberdeen sits on the North Sea oil fields and pays the highest fuel prices of any city in the study. 161.9p average, 3.4p above the national figure. The oil goes south and the savings go with it.

The price gap inside every city

The biggest finding is the gap within cities, not between them.

In Birmingham, Costco sells at 147.9p while a BP forecourt charges 179.9p. That's a 32p gap in the same city. London has a 24.2p gap. Liverpool has a 24p gap. Southampton has 20p. Even Swansea, the city with the tightest pricing in the study, still has a 6.2p gap between cheapest and most expensive.

In Middlesbrough, the gap is 12p across 31 stations. Sainsbury's sells at 151.9p while Esso charges 163.9p. Most drivers pass both without knowing the difference.

On a 50-litre tank, Birmingham's 32p gap means £16 per fill. Fill up fortnightly and you save over £400 a year just by choosing a different station in the same city.

Who's cheapest? Costco dominates.

Costco is the cheapest station in 12 of the 20 cities: Leeds, Coventry, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, Southampton, Edinburgh, and Leicester.

After Costco, supermarkets take most of the remaining spots. Asda is cheapest in Swansea and London. Sainsbury's is cheapest in Middlesbrough. Morrisons is cheapest in Cardiff.

The pattern is consistent. If your nearest station is a branded forecourt (Shell, BP, Esso), you're paying 5 to 10p more per litre than the nearest supermarket or warehouse club. Over a year, that adds up to £150 or more.

Who's most expensive? Shell and Esso.

Shell is the most expensive station in 7 of the 20 cities: Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen. Esso is the most expensive in 5: Middlesbrough, Leeds, Coventry, Sheffield, and Cardiff.

Together, Shell and Esso top the price chart in 12 of the 20 locations. In Manchester, Shell charges 166.9p while Costco is at 148.9p. In Edinburgh, Shell is at 165.9p against Costco's 150.9p. In Cardiff, Esso charges 161.9p while Morrisons is at 153.9p.

The premium for choosing a major branded forecourt over a supermarket is consistent: 8 to 18p per litre depending on the city.

North vs South

Northern England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are cheaper. Belfast leads the country. Bradford, Swansea, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Manchester, and Sheffield are all below the national average.

Scotland is mixed. Glasgow sits just above average. Edinburgh and Aberdeen are in the bottom three.

Southern England is more expensive. London, Southampton, and Leicester are all above average. Leicester is the most expensive city in England at 161.3p.

Northern cities tend to have more supermarket forecourts competing within a smaller area. Southern cities have more branded forecourts and independents, which price higher.

What this means for drivers

Where you fill up matters more than when.

Most people wait for prices to drop. The gap between stations in the same city (often 15 to 32p) is far larger than the typical week-to-week price movement (1 to 3p). Switching stations saves more than waiting.

The UK Government publishes prices for every station in the country through its fuel finder scheme. The data has always been there. It was just hard to search.

I built fuel.richardbatt.com to fix that. Put in your postcode, pick your fuel type, and see the cheapest stations near you with live prices, distances, and an AI analysis that tells you which station to use and what you'll save.

Free. No signup. Works on your phone.

Full data by location

Data: UK Government fuel finder scheme, 13 April 2026. E10 unleaded. Motorway service stations excluded from all averages and rankings. Stations grouped by government location data. 1,400 stations across 20 locations. Analysis by fuel.richardbatt.com.

Try it yourself

Search your postcode at fuel.richardbatt.com and see where you sit compared to the rest of the UK. The compare tool shows the cheapest and most expensive stations nationally, plus a percentile gauge so you can see whether your local prices are above or below average.

Every station. Every price. Updated daily. Free.