Petrol sales are down half a billion litres between April and June compared to this time last year, says the Department of Energy and Climate Change – despite a fall in prices at the pump during that period.

UK prices fell 10p in April, down to 131.19p in June.

Despite this, sales of petrol and diesel during the first half of 2012 are down compared to sales in 2008 – before the recession took hold of the economy.

Overall, sales during the first half of 2012 accounted for 16.7 billion litres of petrol while 2008 saw the sale of 18.97 billion litres; a drop of 12 percent.

The news comes after research revealed yesterday by Moneysupermarket showed that cash-strapped motorists are cutting down on shopping or going out in order to have more money to keep their cars on the road.

Three quarters admitted to cutting back on their spending in other areas in order to pay for the increasing costs of insurance and petrol.

Despite the recent fall in petrol prices the past five years have seen an overall increase of 47 percent in unleaded prices while diesel is up 49 percent.