Petrol prices in Shropshire creeping down to the magic 99.9p figure

Asda kicked off another round of supermarket fuel price cuts, slashing the price at the pumps in Shrewsbury to 103.7p, with diesel at 110.7p a litre.

Customers have been flocking to the Old Potts Way store to fill up their tanks and bosses said that it marked the lowest prices in five years.

It comes as it was revealed two service stations in the West Midlands were believed to be the first in the UK to slash its petrol prices below £1 a litre.

Shropshire motorists have also been queueing at the Shell garage in Ketley and Sainsbury's in Telford, with prices down to 103.9p yesterday.

Elsewhere in the county, fuel prices at Dave Roberts Fuels, Grindley Brook Garage near Whitchurch, stood at 105.9p for unleaded and 111.9 for diesel.

Staff member Caroline Thelwell said: "We have been so busy but we have been able to meet demand.

"We call every morning to order more fuel for the next day.

"Our prices will remain at 105.9p at the moment."

It was reported that the Ablewell Service Station, supplied by Harvest Energy, in Walsall, which also has branches in Redditch and Birmingham, cut the price of unleaded to just 99.7p earlier this month, in a move welcomed by motoring organisations.

Bosses at the RAC and AA said it was the lowest such price it was aware of anywhere in the UK, and marked the first time since 2009 that the cost of filling up has been so cheap.

A second Walsall petrol station also joined the petrol price war in the town, slashing the cost of a litre of unleaded to under £1.

The Cornwall Garage in Wednesbury Road, Palfrey, that sells Harvest Energy fuel, reduced prices to 99.7p for unleaded and 109.7 for diesel, down from 105.9p and 112.9p.

Owner Khalid Khan said he wanted to pass on the benefits of lower oil prices to its customers and was following the lead of the town's Ablewell Service Station, selling unleaded at below £1.

"Since we lowered our prices it's been really busy, " Mr Khan said.

Meanwhile, Mr Alexander said latest falls in the global oil price should see average prices hit the £1 mark at the pumps.

And he called on drivers to use their buying power to put pressure on fuel firms refusing to respond.

Forecasts

New figures showed the average petrol price in the last week was £1.06, the lowest since November 2009 and down 10p in just four months. Diesel is down to £1.14 per litre.

Mr Alexander briefed the Cabinet on the latest Treasury forecasts on Tuesday, and the expectation that the price will hit £1 within less than a month.

While he welcomed the moves so far from oil companies, he insisted they had still failed to pass on the full benefits of dramatic falls in the crude oil price.

A small number of independent petrol stations have cut the price below £1, but to date none of the major supermarkets have gone that far.

Motoring groups predicted the £1 litre mark would be reached a month ago, but so far it has not happened.

Mr Alexander said pressure from the government, the media and the public was working.

But he ruled out a fall to as low as 90p per litre, unless there was another dramatic fall in the oil price.