Petrolprices.com checks the price of petrol in 10,000 garages daily. All you do is type in your postcode and it will give you a summary of the cheapest stations to get fuel within 10 miles.

Using a cash-back or fuel credit card would be another way to save money, and you can set up a direct debit to pay off the bill in full each month. There are some credit cards which will give you a discount on the cost of fuel.

• An ASDA credit card will earn you points if you buy your fuel in their petrol stations, earning you a 2p discount per litre.
• A Morrison’s Miles card entitles card holders to 15 points per litre of fuel; once you have earned 5,000 points you will be presented with a £5 voucher to spend in-store.
• A Shell Citibank card offers 3% cash-back on all Shell purchases including petrol, and 1% on purchases made elsewhere. The cash-back can only be reclaimed within Shell but it is a competitive offer for those who are heavy drivers.

Supermarkets often have the lowest prices on fuel and combing this with a loyalty card can help you reduce the cost. For example supermarkets often have promotions such as “spend £50, get 5p off/litre” – use these schemes to your advantage. Supermarkets are  oligopolistic so if one was to lower the price of petrol dramatically the other companies would follow suit.

Have a look at saveyourcash.co.uk/fuel/  for more information from consumers on what fuel they believe to be best suited to their car. It may not be scientific research but can provide a clever and interesting insight into your buying patterns.