THE cost of a litre of unleaded petrol in York has broken the £1 barrier for the first time.

Soaring oil prices have led to further price rises and ordinary unleaded is now selling for as much as £1.01.9 per litre.

Diesel in the city now sells for up to £1.01.9 and super unleaded costs as much as £1.05.

BP service stations have raised their prices for a second time after The Press revealed last week how the cost of filling your car was on the increase this spring.

A litre of unleaded petrol and diesel now both cost £1.01.9 at Smith Bros garage - the Imperial filling station - on the outskirts of Easingwold.

Owner Mike Hughes said prices went above the £1 barrier last week, but the increase had purely been a reflection of the higher costs he was paying his suppliers.

"We don't make anything out of it," he said. "We sell it as a service to the community - the profits are in the garage business."

He said customers did not blame him, realising it was all to do with the international price of oil.

But David Lord, the manager of Leeman Road Filling Station, York, where unleaded now costs £1.00.9, said he was worried about losing trade.

He said: "I get my petrol from Gulf and their price determines my price. I make a 2.7 per cent profit on what Gulf charge me.

"I simply can't afford to run the station without raising prices and £1-a-litre will soon become the norm.

"Whenever prices are raised you get objections and I will probably lose trade. People who used to use me will probably now go to the supermarkets."

Heather Archer, manager of the BP service station in Tadcaster Road, York, said she had already seen a loss in trade.

She said: "The rises have caused sales to drop off. People are holding off rather than

filling their tanks up to see if prices come down."

A spokesman for Innerspace Petrol Stations, in Boroughbridge Road and Hull Road, said: "We are owned by the Co-operative, so we just get a phone call when our prices go up."

Lisa Shepley, manager of Strensall Services where the price of both unleaded and diesel has risen to 99.9p, said she expected them both to cross the £1 barrier.

Updated: 09:07 Thursday, April 27, 2006