Between mid-April and mid-May, the average price of diesel rose 6.76p to 124.17p a litre.

The previous record rise - of 5.6p a litre - occurred between October and November last year.

The average price of petrol at the pumps has risen 4.49p a litre in the last month, with the cost now 112.55p a litre.

Since early last week, the price of petrol has risen 1.73p a litre while diesel has gone up 2.66p.

On average, supermarkets are 2.5p cheaper for petrol and 4.0p a litre less expensive for diesel.

London is currently the most expensive place for petrol - averaging 113.3p a litre. The least expensive petrol is to be found in Yorkshire and Humberside (111.6p a litre). North west England has the cheapest diesel (123.5p a litre) and Wales the dearest (124.7p a litre).

AA president Edmund King said: "The price rises in recent days were of a magnitude only exceeded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the price of petrol rose almost 3.5p in a week. With many UK families embarking on their holidays next week, the timing could hardly be worse."

He continued: "What alarms us most is the stream of comments coming from the industry and producers saying that oil is over-priced - the finger of blame being pointed at market speculators.

"Oil prices have doubled since last year and this is not just due to strong demand from China and other nations. While huge profits are made in the financial centres, an increasing number of car-owners are becoming desperate and businesses suffer from the hit on consumer spending."