FUEL DUTY POSTPONEMENT - RIGHT CHOICE SAY PETROL RETAILERS
'The Chancellor has made a sensible choice by postponing the fuel duty increase scheduled for 1 April to the autumn. The high oil price made it inevitable, but this does not make the rescheduled rise in October any more justifiable. By implication, motorists will have to endure tax increases of around 4.7 pence per litre, covering the Excise Duty plus VAT in just six months, as announced measures in two Budgets are applied.

A revision of all taxes associated with all forms of road transport seems to have been promised in the Budget. We welcome this and will encourage the Treasury to make sure that appropriate consideration is given to all the relevant factors.

Motorists will also have noticed a return to real increases in fuel tax from 2010. When last used, this measure led to 2000's fuel protests. Let's hope our new Chancellor reconsiders this policy in his overall review of road taxes.'

Ray Holloway Director of the RMI Petrol Retailers Association (PRA)
The PRA represents more than a third of the UK's petrol forecourt network.