Two petrol stations within 20 miles of Swindon are charging less than £1.70 a litre for petrol - which is around 15p cheaper than the UK's average price.

Wantage in Oxfordshire is home to two forecourts where petrol is currently going for 169.9p a litre.

But in Swindon, there are no stations where petrol is being sold for less than 180p a litre.

The lower petrol prices at Faringdon Road's Esso and Bellingers Service Station are encouraging drivers to flock from further afield - including motorists from Swindon just 30 minutes away.

The average petrol price in the UK is currently 185.05p a litre, according to the RAC.

A customer assistant from the Wantage Esso confirmed that they had been "busy".

The station is currently charging 169.9p a litre for petrol and 186.9p a litre for diesel. 

To fill up my Hyundai i10 with the fuel light on, I spent £62.01 for 36.5 litres of petrol at the Esso Watage.

Swindon Advertiser:

One driver filling up her car said: "I'm not sure what it is about Wantage but the prices are generally a lot more reasonable."

A Sainsbury's on Limborough Road in Wantage is listing petrol at 176.9p a litre which is still cheaper than anywhere in Swindon.

Swindon Advertiser:

Swindon's joint cheapest petrol stations - formerly the most expensive - are the Texaco on Kingshill Road and the Shell on Rodbourne Road selling unleaded for 181.9p a litre.

Interestingly, the most expensive is Shell's Mead Way station where petrol is 191.9p a litre.

The Wantage stations' prices are still far off from being the cheapest in the country. In Manchester, a Texaco is selling unleaded petrol for just 159.9 a litre. 

"Hundreds" of motorists are flocking to the independent forecourt, according to The Sun.

An investigation found that four-out-of-five retailers charging below 180p per litre for petrol are independently-owned.

Swindon Advertiser:

More than three-quarters of the 5% of filling stations selling diesel for less than 190p per litre are independently-owned.

The RAC said the average price that retailers pay to buy petrol has fallen by 17p per litre from the start of June, but pump prices have only dropped by “a paltry 4p”.

 Fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “In this most expensive of summers, drivers need all the help they can get to keep their spending down.

“We applaud those retailers who are doing the right thing for their customers and charging a fair price for petrol and diesel, more in line with the lower wholesale costs.

“It appears to be the case that it’s no longer the big four supermarkets that lead on price, but instead smaller independent sites that are prepared to buck the national forecourt trend.

“Drivers who fill up at supermarket forecourts have every right to feel that they are being charged well over the odds for petrol and diesel right now.”