PRICES at the petrol pumps were tumbling last night to their lowest levels for two years.

Northern supermarket Morrisons began the trend by slashing unleaded petrol 2p to 69.9p per litre - its cheapest since 1999 and about 12p lower than a year ago.

Fellow store chains Asda and Sainsbury's pledged to match the move by cutting prices from midnight, while BP, Esso and Shell were expected to follow suit.

The drop was seen as good news for the region's motorists, who are already benefiting from some of the cheapest prices in the country.

Research by The Northern Echo shows that Darlington has the second cheapest petrol in the UK.

The average price for unleaded was 71.06p per litre - before yesterday's cuts.

Experts said that the drop in the price of petrol was due to oil prices plummeting in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11 in the US.

Jonathan Akerman, of the Petrol Retailers Association, said: "It is anomalous as you would expect prices to go up with the war that is going on and the economy undergoing a downturn.

"What we're finding, though, is that people are reluctant to travel, with air travel decreasing significantly. This means that demand for oil is dropping and prices are going up.

"This is extremely good news for consumers, but the message is 'make the most of it as it is almost impossible to predict how long it will last'."

Morrisons said that motorists would reap the benefit of the cuts with all three of its Darlington stores immediately reducing their prices.

Asda's Darlington store remained at 70.5 pence per litre for unleaded yesterday afternoon, but that was expected to change.

A spokesman said that, from today, none of its forecourts would sell petrol above 69.9p a litre.

Reg Richardson, who runs a haulage business from North Ormesby, Teesside, said that while many people who made their living from the roads would be pleased at the cuts in unleaded, the price of diesel remained high.

He said: "We are paying exactly the same prices as a fortnight ago and have not seen any reductions."

This is thought to be because diesel, which is also used as a fuel for heating, is more affected by seasonal demand than unleaded petrol