The UK government is being urged to extend a fuel duty relief scheme into rural Wales as motorists pay £2 a litre for diesel.

Ceredigion Preseli MP Ben Lake has joined Plaid Cymru colleagues in writing to the Chancellor ahead of this month’s Budget, calling for the Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme to be extended to Wales.

The scheme allows fuel retailers in specified remote areas of England and Scotland to claim 5p per litre relief on petrol and diesel, which must ultimately be passed on to motorists. No part of Wales currently qualifies. HMRC says the scheme was designed for communities where remoteness pushes up the cost of transporting fuel and lower sales volumes leave filling stations unable to benefit from the same bulk discounts as larger retailers.

The renewed call comes after the UK average diesel price reached £2 a litre for the first time earlier this month, according to the RAC.

Mr Lake argues that rural Welsh communities are being unfairly excluded despite residents often having little choice but to drive for work, education, shopping and healthcare.

Latest Fuel Finder-based figures underline how much motorists across the Cambrian News patch are paying.

In Aberystwyth, the latest local average stood at around 172.4p a litre for unleaded and 198.9p for diesel. At the popular Ty Mawr filling station in Penrhyncoch, unleaded was listed at 171.9p and diesel at 197.9p.

Cardigan was cheaper, averaging 167.7p for petrol and 194.7p for diesel, while Machynlleth averaged 172.9p and 197.9p respectively.

Porthmadog was the most expensive of the four areas compared, with unleaded averaging 176.4p and diesel 202.2p a litre.

Across Wales, average prices on Thursday were 174.2p for petrol and 199.6p for diesel, with diesel having risen by more than 11p a litre over the previous month.

The pressure has already prompted calls from politicians across west Wales. Last week, Ceredigion Penfro MS Paul Davies urged both Cardiff Bay and Westminster to act, warning that higher diesel prices were increasing costs for households, farmers, hauliers and local businesses.

Mr Lake said “Rural households should not be financially penalised for the rising costs of fuel in rural areas in times of crisis.

“It is not fair that constituents in Ceredigion Preseli should have to bear the full burden of higher fuel costs due to historic underinvestment in alternative means of transport in rural areas.”

He added that extending the rural relief scheme would give households “some much-needed support”.

Alongside the rural scheme, Plaid Cymru MPs are also urging the Chancellor to retain the separate nationwide 5p-per-litre fuel duty cut beyond the end of December and consider increasing the level of support.

The temporary cut, first introduced in 2022, was extended earlier this year until 31 December 2026. Unless the government changes course at the Budget, fuel duty is currently due to begin rising again from January.

Mr Lake said action on fuel prices would be an “encouraging starting point” for easing cost-of-living pressures on rural households.