MANY retailers across Worcestershire could drop fuel prices to below £1 a litre in the run up to Christmas, according to the RAC.

A fall in the price of oil has sparked the potential price decreases, which could see a drop of 3p for petrol and 5p for diesel on forecourts nationwide in the coming weeks.

RAC Fuel Watch spokesman Simon Williams said: "In the expensive run-up to Christmas, drivers of both petrol and diesel vehicles are benefitting from far cheaper fill-ups than they did at this time last year.

"While petrol for under a pound a litre has become a reality at the cheapest retailers we would like to see this happen on a non-promotional basis.

"This depends, of course, on the cost of a barrel of oil staying low and ideally trading down a little closer to $40 for longer – something which is very hard to predict.

“The lower forecourt prices we’re enjoying at the moment are a product of the fall in world crude oil prices, which began in September 2014. After a six-year low of $45 a barrel in early February and two instances of going back up to the $60 level twice briefly since, the price has been consistently below $50 since mid-October, reaching a new six-year low in mid-November."