The oil price crash has been worth the equivalent of a 1.3p drop in income tax to UK consumers, and ten times more valuable than the recent cuts in energy prices.

Households can expect to save up to £329 a year, while male motorists should save an average £175.

The calculations from Hargreaves Lansdown put the total savings to motorists

from cheaper oil at £5.3billion - and that was on prices per litre of 107p (petrol) and 114p (diesel), with many Scottish forecourts already cheaper.

Senior analyst Laith Khalaf said: "Falling fuel prices will deliver substantial savings to the UK public, in aggregate more than a 1p cut in income tax would. This is an adrenaline shot delivered straight to the heart of the UK economy - the Great British consumer. The average household can look forward to saving almost £200 a year on car travel, if prices remain where they are."

He went on: "Consumers can do one of three things with the extra money in their pockets; spend it, save it, or use it to pay down debt. In all likelihood we will see a combination of all three, and many UK businesses stand to benefit from the additional revenue generated by higher consumer spending power.'

If petrol prices were to fall to £1 and remain at that level, this aggregate saving would increase to £7.2 billion saved each year compared to 2014. That would be equivalent to a 1.7p drop in basic rate income tax.

At that level the saving to the average motorist would rise from to £201, from its current £146, made up of £175 for men and £114 for women because they drive less on average.

The highest income households stand to save four times more than lowest income households, because they drive significantly more car miles. The top fifth of households by income level stand to save £329 a year, whereas the bottom fifth stand to save £77 a year. The average household stands to save an estimated £180 a year. Should the price of petrol fall to £1 per litre and stay there, this figure would rise to a £452 saving for the top fifth of households and £106 for the bottom fifth.

Taken across the population as a whole, Scotland is £488m better off now than when petrol was 131p a litre, equating to each Scottish consumer is £92 for each person in the population.

However, the biggest windfall has been for high-mileage drivers.

"For instance, an individual who drives 20,000 miles a year in a gas guzzler which only does 25 miles to a gallon of petrol would be saving £770 a year," Mr Khalaf said.

Whilst less significant, lower energy bills should inject a further £500m into the economy via consumers' pockets, on an estimate of the suppliers' new round of price cuts.

Mr Khalaf said: "We shouldn't expect a huge consumer spending spree right away, it will take some time for household budgets to digest and adjust to the savings they are making on fuel prices. When they do however, this should feed through to the top line of many businesses selling to the UK consumer."

Hargreaves has picked out three stocks which could potentially benefit: retailer Next, pub operator Greene King, and leisure giant Merlin Entertainments.