FOR this week's best fuel prices, see last week's Evening Star!

Tom Potter

FOR this week's best fuel prices, see last week's Evening Star!

Motorists will be rubbing their eyes in disbelief as petrol prices in the area stabilised over the last seven days.

Some forecourts have even dropped prices but it hasn't stopped a number of drivers reducing the number of vehicles in their household as the credit crunch takes a firm hold.

Unleaded and diesel fell by two pence at Esso, Nacton Road and BP Roundwood as a poll, carried out by esure car insurance, today revealed that nearly half of 1,006 car owners said they were thinking about downscaling to just one vehicle.

Nearly three quarters of those polled said they were resisting the urge to buy a new vehicle so they could save money, with 58 percent of all those questioned citing the economic slump as a reason for keeping their current car longer.

Mike Pickard, head of risk at esure, said: “With the combined effect of rising motoring costs, high fuel prices and the credit crunch adding strain on motorists' pockets, it comes as no surprise that UK drivers are opting to reduce the number of vehicles they own.

“The fact that they're also keeping their cars for longer is proof that UK drivers are becoming increasingly conscious of keeping motoring costs down.”

The survey findings come ahead of official figures due out next week which are expected to show a big dip in UK new car sales for September compared with the same month last year.

- See your Evening Star every Friday for our weekly fuel watch survey which shows you where you can buy the cheapest fuel.