Motorists are today facing yet another hike in the cost of petrol because of an increase in the cost of oil.

The rise was immediately condemned by motoring organisations, while the Dump the Pump protest group warned of a £5 gallon soon.

Petrol has already gone up by 2p a litre on many garage forecourts this week because of the rising worldwide price of oil.

And by the weekend it could go up a further 2p when the oil producing countries in OPEC meet.

The recent average price of petrol until this week has been just under 80p a litre or about £3.65 a gallon. Within weeks it is now could to rise to nearly 87p or almost £4 a gallon, critics fear. Edmund King, of the RAC, said: "When the world price increases the oil companies are very quick to pass on the price to the consumer.

"But when the oil price goes down they are actually very slow to reduce prices." Garry Russell, of Dump the Pump, which organised a boycott of petrol stations last month, said: "It's bad news for the motorist and it's a further knock-back for us.

"I knew this was going to happen and the £5 gallon will be with us a lot sooner than people realise."

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