MOTORISTS were last night warned of more pain ahead with the price of unleaded petrol yesterday reaching the dreaded £1-a-litre mark in some areas.

Prices were hiked up at many forecourts as a 2p rise in fuel duty, announced in this year's budget took effect.

The AA Motoring Trust said that two garages in North Yorkshire, the Rose Bower Garage (100.9p) and York Road Garage (102p), both near Easingwold, had already broken the £1 barrier in the past few days and would probably go higher.

It warned that many other stations, particularly independent ones in rural areas, could follow suit.

Meanwhile, according to the petrolprices.com website 99.9p per litre of unleaded was by and large the highest price being paid in the vast majority of the region.

In Durham the lowest price was 92.9p; the highest 99.9p. In Northallerton unleaded ranged from 94.9p to 99.9p.

And in Darlington and Middlesbrough, the price for unleaded varied from 92.9p at its cheapest to 97.9p.

David Coates, of Coates Garage, Scorton, near Richmond, said they were selling unleaded petrol at 99.9p a litre, but he said they expected to surpass the 100p mark in a few days.

He said: "Whatever price we buy it at we have to put our own profit on top of it."

Asked whether motorists were complaining about petrol prices, he said: "At the moment yes, but they are still paying for it. They are not happy with the Government."

Luke Bosdet, of the AA Motoring Trust, told The Northern Echo: "The Chancellor was already making an extra 1p a litre from the fact that prices were so high anyway.

"Now another 2p a litre has gone on in fuel duty, effectively the treasury is enjoying 3p on what is being paid at the pumps at the moment.

"It is particularly galling for motorists that do big mileages either as part of their work or when they commute."

He said the Government could not have known that fuel prices would be so high at this time when the rise in fuel duty was due to be levied.

Normally the price of petrol is coming down at the back of end of summer, but it is all down to higher oil prices.

It is likely that the bigger supermarkets will be able to hold the price down for a week or so as they have brought in extra stock, but after next weekend we may all feel the pain.

Mr Bosdet added that he did not blame rural petrol stations for their high prices which many needed to impose in order to survive.

He said: "They don't have the volume of customers that the big supermarkets and retailers do and have to cover their overheads, so they have to charge more to be able to stay in business."

Ironically, this time last year motorists were enjoying the fruits of a price war with unleaded dropping as low as 84.9p per litre at Asda.