ARE you getting the best value for money when filling up your car with petrol or diesel?

Your nearest petrol station is not always the cheapest, and a short drive elsewhere could save you a lot of money each year.

Across Cheshire East and West there is actually a massive price discrepancy at the moment, with the cheapest price for unleaded in Northwich being 14 pence a litre cheaper than it is in Knutsford

As of March 8, the cheapest petrol across the patch is shared between Tesco and Sainsburys in Northwich at 113.9 pence per litre, which compares far more favourably than the 127.9 pence per litre at Knutsford's Toft Road Esso.

That price difference soon adds up, with the cost of filling up a 55 litre tank costing £62.65 in Northwich compared to £70.34 in Knutsford - a saving of £7.69 each time you fill up.

If you're filling your car up once a month, that means people in Knutsford are paying around £90 a year more than those in Northwich.

Unfortunately for Knutsford, Northwich also fills up each of the top five spots when it comes to petrol prices across the patch, with Asda Barons Quay (114.7p) BP Winnington Lane (118.9p) and Texaco King Street (119.9p) being third, fourth and fifth respectively.

After the aforementioned Esso, Knutsford's next best in terms of price are Shell (128.9p) and BP on Mobberley Road (128.9).

It's an even worse story with regard to to the price of diesel with the top six all being located in the Northwich area, with Sainsburys (116.9p) just pipping Asda Barons Quay and Tesco (both 117.9p) to the top spot.

In Knutsford, Esso on Toft Road again comes out as the cheapest at 132.9p, closely following by Shell and BP Mobberley Road (both 133.9p).

Filling a 55 litre tank of diesel in Knutsford will currently cost you at best £73.09 while in Northwich it is £64.29 - a saving of £8.80.

If you're filling your car up once a month, that means people in Knutsford are paying more than £100 a year extra than those in Northwich.

Knutsford resident Richard Cussons is not happy with the discrepancy and says it seems to be getting worse.

He said: "I don’t think I remember such a big discrepancy for a long time.

"Many Knutsfordians feel we are being ripped off, and the price just keeps creeping up at the Shell in Knutsford.

"There are relatively new owners there who seem to be taking a different view of pricing; this used to be one of the cheapest petrol stations around five years ago, but now is one of the most expensive."