Oil fell back towards $70 a barrel yesterday following a sharp reduction in fuel prices – including a record dip in diesel.

Brent crude sank as low as $70.14 – its lowest since late February, before war broke out in the Middle East and pushed the price as high as $126.

More tankers navigating the Strait of Hormuz, and a tentative peace deal between the US and Iran, have seen shipping pick up – boosting the supply of oil.

That has fed through to cheaper fuel prices on British forecourts.

The average price of diesel fell nearly 17p a litre in June to 167.14p in the biggest monthly drop since records began in 2000, according to the RAC.

Petrol was also down, by nearly 8p a litre to 151.40p. A tank of diesel is more than £9 less than at the start of June.

But fuel is still more expensive than it was before the war. ‘We’re still some way off those levels,’ said RAC head of policy Simon Williams.

‘Petrol should dip under 150p soon and diesel ought to get to below 160p, but we would need the price of oil to fall further to see a return to pre-conflict prices.’