EAST Ayrshire is home to one of the steepest rises in fuel prices anywhere in Scotland, new data has revealed.

Admiral Car Insurance has analysed where fuel prices have increased the most in Scotland in the last two months, as well as breaking it down by the most expensive compared to average salaries.

Of the areas in Scotland analysed, only Aberdeenshire had a higher price hike than East Ayrshire.

The average price for a litre of petrol in East Ayrshire on April 13, 2022, was £1.59 – but by June 14 that had risen to £1.85 – an increase of 26p, or 16.1 per cent.

By comparison, in the City of Glasgow area, petrol prices have only jumped an average of 15p in this same time.

And just a few miles away, the average price in South Ayrshire jumped by 21p – from £1.59 to £1.80 per litre.

According to the latest online data, the cheapest fuel currently available in the Cumnock area is at Jet on Glaisnock Street, where a litre of petrol costs 183.9 pence.

The only other filling station in the area where petrol is currently being sold at less than £1.90 per litre is at Jet on Cumnock’s Main Street, where the price is 186.9p.

The insurance company also estimated how much money would be spent on petrol per £1,000 earned by comparing average petrol prices with figures from the Office for National Statistics on the median hourly salary for each Scottish council area in 2021.

East Ayrshire ranked just outside of the top 10 in this list, with people spending an average of £38.90 per £1,000 earned on their salary.

The latest fuel price figures come after the Chronicle reported that East Ayrshire Council staff could be set to receive increased staff mileage payments to help them with rising fuel costs.

One Chronicle reader said he feared the sheer scale of the increase in fuel prices would hit small businesses in the area.

The reader, from Auchinleck, said: “It feels like we’re living in some kind of nightmare mixed with a big massive joke.

“It just feels like one thing after another with all of these price rises, but the amount that petrol is rising is an absolute joke.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a lot more taxi companies, bus companies and thins like that going out of business, because it just can’t be sustainable when these prices are absolutely astronomical like they are.

“It feels like nobody is fighting the battle for us.”