Drivers are suffering a miserable start to 2017 with fuel prices creeping up to their highest level since 2014.

Motorists are paying at least 15p per litre more than they were this time last year, when prices plummeted to around £1 per litre for both unleaded petrol and diesel.

The average cost of petrol, on Friday, was 118.11p per litre.

Luckily, there are a number of places in Borehamwood where you can buy it cheaper than that.

The cheapest petrol station in the area is Asda Elstree in Allum Lane, Elstree, where petrol costs 112.7p per litre.

Asda is followed by Tesco Borehamwood Extra, in Shenley Road, where petrol is 112.9p per litre.

And charging 113.7p per litre is Morrisons Borehamwood, in Stirling Way, and Morrisons Queensbury, in Cumberland Road.

AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “Drivers have had a bad start to 2017, seeing 1p, 2p and even 3p ticking up on the fuel price boards over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Petrol is back to where it was in December 2014 and diesel at a level last seen in July 2015.

“Sadly, in the absence of fuel price transparency to tell them what is feeding these high prices, drivers will be blaming retailers for taking advantage of the festive period. All in all, with the cold weather, it’s been a pretty miserable return to work.”

Planned production cuts in the world’s oil-producing countries are being blamed for pushing prices up in recent weeks and motorists have been warned to brace themselves for more increases. Industry experts have warned petrol could hit 125p per litre by the end of January.

In 2015, petrol averaged 111.71p a litre and diesel 115.03p. Last year, the average price of petrol was 109.79p and diesel 110.50p.

Latest fuel sales figures, released by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, show that the competitive pricing strategies adopted by supermarkets worked well for them, increasing their sales in a declining petrol market during the first three quarters of 2016.

Between January and September last year, UK petrol consumption fell 1.2 per cent but petrol sales among the big four supermarkets increased 2.1 per cent.

Overall diesel sales rose 4.4 per cent and sales on supermarket forecourts shot up nine per cent.