HERE’S something we haven’t seen in the Forest for a while – fuel cheaper than £1 per litre.

The picture shows the price board outside Tesco in Lydney. The retailing giant has cut the cost of unleaded and diesel at its 500 stores in a forecourt battle with other supermarkets.

According to the Department of the Energy and Climate Change’s weekly list of fuel prices, the last time the average cost of a litre of unleaded in the UK was less than £1 was the beginning of June 2009.

A litre of diesel broke through the £1 barrier at the beginning of February that year both forms have had three figures before the decimal point until this week.

It is also the first time since at least the summer of 2003 that diesel has been cheaper than unleaded.

Motorist Mike Price, of Lydney, said: “Of course it’s good news.

“It’s good to see the pounds going round less slowly than the litre indicator.

“I drive a diesel and I can’t remember the last time it was cheaper than unleaded.”

RAC Fuel Watch spokesman, Pete Williams said: “The UK’s 11 million diesel drivers will clearly welcome this move by the big supermarkets, although it would be fair to say it has been slow in coming.

“The wholesale price of diesel has been around two pence cheaper than the wholesale price of petrol since a couple of weeks before Christmas so we should have seen these cuts earlier and that is what the RAC has been calling for.

“We hope that other supermarkets and the cheaper fuel retailers will follow suit swiftly and do the right thing for motorists.”