Sales of petrol plummeted to the lowest level on record in March despite an average price below 130ppl.

Latest petrol sales figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show that UK drivers this March bought 1.367 billion litres compared to 1.375 billion litres last March, which was the previous lowest figure.

Diesel consumption (including commercial use) in March rose to 2.230 billion litres compared with 2.109 in the same month last year.

Collapsing petrol demand has led to a 24.7% reduction in sales during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2008, just before the credit crunch. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of registered petrol cars fell 9.7%, a reduction of 2.029 million cars.

Despite a 40% increase in registered diesel cars boosting numbers by 2.901 million cars between 2008 and 2013, HMRC figures show that diesel fuel sales (including commercial use) between January and March this year were only 5% higher than in the same period of 2008.