Drivers avoid high fuel costs at motorway petrol stations And the lobbyists added that 74 per cent of motorists are now "shopping around" for the best deal on fuel. FairFuel said 81 per cent of its thousands of supporters were either considerably or moderately cutting back spending on other items so they can afford to fill up. Edmund King, AA president said: "This is yet another prime example of bloated pump prices driving away motoring customers. Drivers can and will vote with their wheels when they feel that fuel costs are too much, but this is potentially tragic in two ways. Cash-strapped drivers who decide they can't afford a motorway service area's prices drive on and sometimes run out of fuel in a traffic jam. And those motorway services that offer an excellent deal can lose out because drivers have such a negative opinion of service area fuel prices in general. Supermarkets consistently offered the cheapest fuel in Britain, as they use petrol as a way to encourage customers into their stores. Independents claim they are using petrol as a "loss leader," and that the tactic is forcing smaller forecourts to the wall. Motorway service operators such as Moto insist their higher prices reflect the higher cost of running such large service areas - from staff to powering the building - often for 24 hours. The Chancellor cancelled a fuel duty rise scheduled in September in the Budget. Petrol prices have come down from a near record of 140p per litre in March but have only fallen by 6p in the past three months. The AA fears wholesale prices could soon begin to rise again. Research commissioned by the Telegraph shows that 45 per cent of motorists believe petrol prices have to fall to as low as 110p to help kick start the recovery. And campaign group FairFuel said that while motorists were spending more with supermarkets, they wanted the big stores to be far more transparent about the prices they charge. Some 85 per cent said they would be "pleased" if supermarkets had a clear and consistent national pricing policy "without any frills, incentives and gimmicks." More than four in ten - 43 per cent - said they felt "conned" when supermarkets offer deals such as 6p off a litre of fuel if you spend a specific amount such as £60 in a store. Quentin Wilson, lead spokesman for FairFuel, blasted: "These results are a shocking indictment of large sections of the petrol and diesel market. Only 2 per cent - yes 2 per cent - of people buy willingly from motorway services. And there's a shocking message here for supermarket retailers as well. People are angry and frustrated when they see the price at their local store increase without any apparent 'real' reason. All this reinforces our view that we need transparency in the road fuel market.