The UK government has labelled claims that major fuel suppliers have been involved in oil price fixing as "deeply worrying".

An investigation has been launched by the European Commission into the activities of Shell and BP, while the offices of Norwegian firm Statoil have also been raided by EU officials.

It is suspected that some companies might have been manipulating the market by fixing the price of refined products such as petrol.

A spokesperson for prime minister David Cameron said: "The European Commission is investigating and we would expect any companies which it wants to talk to to fully comply with these investigations."

Organisations like the AA and lobby groups such as FairFuel UK have bemoaned the cost of fuel in Britain for a long time and these revelations could dent people's confidence in the oil industry even further.

Many logistics companies are still struggling to cope with sky-high diesel costs and some have questioned the apparent disparity between the value of wholesale oil and the prices being charged by filling stations.