“Franchised retailers are making significant investments and efforts to encourage the transition to a low and ultimately zero carbon market, but we need a targeted and consistent approach by Government, industry and key stakeholders to ensure a stable uptake of low emission vehicles”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA).

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “There was an inevitable initial panic-driven surge in the oil price on Monday morning, but the situation then cooled. While the wholesale prices of both petrol and diesel look set to increase by 3p a litre, this doesn’t necessarily mean higher prices at the pumps because retailers only just began to pass on overdue wholesale price savings at the end of last week. At that point the 128p forecourt price of petrol was 7p too high which means retailers should have a cushion to absorb the spike.

Nearly half of people have witnessed an increase in drivers breaking the speed limit during the government lockdown, according to research carried out by the RAC.

Commenting on the fall in the oil price which is once again putting pressure on UK retailers to cut pump prices, RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: