A CAMPAIGN to help stop fuel prices escalating has shown that motorists in the region are paying some of the lowest petrol prices in the country.

An agreement was signed earlier this week between Boycott-the-pumps.com and PetrolBusters.com to give motorists the ability to find the cheapest known petrol in their area.

It is claimed that if motorists use the Internet system, they could cause a £2.1bn slump in petrol companies' "gas glutton" profits.

All drivers have to do is type in their postcodes and the distance they are prepared to travel for fuel. The system will tell them the location of the cheapest petrol station in that radius.

The site shows that most of the towns where fuel costs less than the average unleaded price of 84.4p per litre, are in the North-East.

In Teesside, three petrol stations - Marsh House Service Station, Billingham, Morrisons, Thornaby, and Sainsbury Savacentre, Stockton - were among those selling unleaded petrol for less than 82p, believed to be the lowest in the region.

James Black, of PetrolBusters.com, said: "Motorists are being shafted by the Government. We are highlighting where they can save an average of just over £4 a week if they are prepared to compare prices and look around.

"If people use the system in big numbers, the petrol companies and Government are going to have to sit up and take notice."

Drivers can log on to PetrolBusters.com website free until the end of next month. After that, it will be available every Friday until the campaign has achieved its goal of reducing petrol taxes to a level more in line with the rest of the developed world.

Since the launch on Tuesday, more than 30,000 people have logged on to the site.

Mr Black said: "It has been a phenomenal success. If half of the people who use this site change the way they buy petrol, then something will have to be done about it."