Make the numbers work for your journey
How current are the fuel prices you see?
A feed checked five minutes ago can contain an older station price. Read the price report time, check the fuel grade and confirm the pump price before filling.
Three different times can describe the same price
- When Fuel Finder checks the feed
- The main UK feed is checked every five minutes. That describes our check, not a new price report from every forecourt.
- When a fuel price was reported
- A specific petrol or diesel price has its own supporting report time. It can be older than the feed check, and different grades can have different report times.
- When station details changed
- A name, address or other detail can be edited without a new fuel price. Our public-price checks do not treat a general station update as proof of a fresh price.
Read the report, not just the refresh label
A newer feed check does not make an older price new
Imagine the feed is checked at 10:05 but a station's petrol price was reported at 16:00 yesterday. The price report is still from yesterday. Reloading the page or editing the station's address does not establish a new pump price.
This example illustrates the distinction between timestamps. It is not a current report for a real forecourt.
What “recent reported prices” means on city pages
City comparisons use shared eligibility checks for active UK stations and supported price reports. The current recent-report window is 14 days. It excludes reports outside that window; it does not promise every included price was checked at the pump today.
The average and range describe eligible reports in that page's search area. A newer report from one station does not establish that every price in the group was refreshed at the same time. If coverage is insufficient, the page should say so instead of filling the gap with an assumed price.
A quick check before travelling
- Match the fuel grade you actually need.
- Inspect the individual station's price report time and any access information.
- Include the extra road distance when comparing the cost.
- Check the displayed pump price before filling.
If the listed price differs, use Fuel Finder's station reporting options to flag what you found. An absent recent price does not, by itself, establish that a station has closed.
Where to read more
Fuel Finder is an independent comparison service using official UK fuel data. The government's fuel data access guide describes the source data, while our published price-statistics methodology explains the separate rules behind our reports.
Open the finder to inspect actual station information. Prices and coverage can change after you view a page.