Many of the country’s biggest brewers are to raise the price of a pint by up to10 pence to cope in the continuing recession.
Guinness producer Diageo warned that the recommended retail price of a pint would rise 10p to £3.03 on 1st February, the Daily Mail reports. Brewing giant InBev, makers of Stella Artois, announced that they will increase the wholesale price of all their drinks, which also include Beck’s, Budweiser, Staropramen and Leffe, by …

Average petrol prices have risen above £5 a gallon for the first time in 15 months, the Daily Telegraph reports.
With VAT returning to 17.5 per cent, the average price of petrol at the pumps has gone up to 110.04p a litre, with diesel now 111.77p a litre.
This compares with average petrol costs of 85.99p a litre a year ago, when diesel averaged 98.06p a litre.

Cash-strapped Government are to raise petrol taxes next year, motorists will see a five pence rise by the spring and 10p by the autumn, which will push the cost of unleaded petrol from 108p to 123p – or nearly £5.60 a gallon, the Daily Mail reports.
Among the tax changes planned or predicted are increases in VAT and fuel duty, the ending of the duty incentive to refiners for the production of biofuel, and tax increases in a snap post-election Budget On top of the tax rises, Britain’s 33million motorists are…

The price of a first-class stamp will break through the 40p barrier in April, the BBC reports.
First and second-class stamps will rise by 2p to 41p and 32p respectively on 6th April.
The price rises will affect standard letters weighing up to 100g. The increase is higher than inflation, but lower than the rise in April 2009.
The prices for ordinary meter and account mail, largely sent by small businesses, will not increase.

Higher petrol prices pushed inflation upward for the second month in a row in November, the Daily Mail reports.
Average petrol prices rose by 2.9p to 108.3p a litre in November, compared with a record 9.3p fall to 95.2p a year earlier – adding to inflationary pressure.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 1.9% last month from 1.5% in October, the inflation figure is slightly higher than the 1.8% expected by most City economists.
CPI is still …

Some oil tankers have been parked off British shores for months, refusing to unload their oil until prices have risen even higher; the delay makes millions for speculators and keeps your petrol costs soaring, the Daily Mail reports.
Laden with fuel, three oil tankers sit idly within sight of the British coastline, playing a waiting game that is driving up petrol prices for hard-pressed motorists. They are part of a flotilla of ten vessels refusing to …

Motorists are being warned they can expect to pay more than £1.10 a litre for petrol in the run-up to Christmas, ITN reports.
That’s the highest price since September 2008.
Petrol prices have risen by 26 per cent already this year, despite the cost of oil actually falling.
The misery is set to continue into the New Year, with the Government putting VAT back up to 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent.

A campaign to lower charges for mobile phone calls between networks will hand telecoms watchdog Ofcom a petition with 114,259 signatures today, the BBC reports.
The Terminate the Rate campaign wants to see mobile termination rates (MTRs) slashed to reflect actual costs. These rates are what mobile network operators charge to handle other networks’ traffic.
Signatories, including 258 MPs and 60 businesses, are calling for the rates to be slashed from 5p to less than 1p.
The campaign was …

Petrol prices are now at their highest level of the year, average prices at the pumps are now 107.14p a litre – beating the previous 2009 high of 107.03p a litre on 9th September, the Press Association reports.
Diesel is also at its highest price of the year – averaging 108.40p a litre.
Petrol prices had fallen to 104.97p a litre by 11th October, with diesel at 105.96p, before starting to climb again. This means that a …

European energy companies, faced with weakening demand and plentiful lower-cost fuel supplies, have bought far less natural gas from Russia’s OAO Gazprom this year than they are obliged to under long-term contracts, but Gazprom expect the European customers to pay for the unused gas anyway, the Wall Street Journal reports.
A person close to Gazprom’s export arm said purchases by the company’s largest European customers had fallen short of the minimum specified in their “take-or-pay” contracts …

Oil prices briefly rose above $80 a barrel today in Asia as better-than-expected US corporate earnings boosted investor confidence, FoxNews reports.
Benchmark crude for November delivery rose as much as 44 cents to $80.05 a barrel, but later fell back and was down 27 cents at $79.34 by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.08 to settle at $79.61 yesterday.
Crude demand has remained sluggish this year …

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today announced the removal of the Western extension of the Congestion Charge zone, but also rising the Congestion Charge rate for Central London by £1-£2, dependant on how the payment is made.
Johnson announced that his proposals would be all introduced by December 2010, subject to legal processes.
His proposals include removal of the Western extension of the Congestion Charging zone and introduction of automated payment account system, provisionally entitled CC Auto …

London transport prices are to rise in 2010, Mayor Boris Johnson announced today – overall, bus fares will rise by 12.7 per cent and Tube fares by 3.9%.
According to the Mayor’s press release, Oyster pay as you go bus fare will rise from £1.00 to £1.20 and a seven day bus pass from £13.80 to £16.60. On the Tube, the Zone 1 Oyster pay as you go fare will rise from £1.60 to £1.80. Most other Oyster pay as …

Oil prices jumped above $75 a barrel today for the first time in a year on investor optimism crude demand will improve ahead of the Christmas shopping season, FoxNews reports.
A weak dollar was also bolstering crude prices.
Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 85 cents to $75 by midday. The price reached $75.15 earlier in the day, the highest since October 2008.
The contract gained 88 cents to settle at $74.15 yesterday.
In London, Brent crude rose …

The rate of inflation fell by more than expected in September, declining from 1.6 per cent in August to a five-year low of 1.1 per cent on the back of falling energy prices, The Times reports.
The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation is far below the 1.3% expected by economists and is now at the lowest rate since September 2004.
Inflation fell on a steep 7.3% decline in utility bills while food and non-alcoholic beverage …

The Tories are outlining plans to ban cheap supermarket drink deals and raise the price of super-strength lager, if they win the next election, the BBC reports.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling told the party’s conference it was too easy for teenagers to get “very drunk quickly and cheaply”. He also said councils would be given new powers to restrict pub and club opening hours. Penalties would also be increased for premises who sell to underage drinkers.
Grayling told …