The Government has levied a two pence rise in fuel duty which will come into effect from midnight tonight, making this the third increase in fuel duty in nine months.

The government says the extra duty is needed to help fund public investment.

that AA president Edmund King said the timing of the rise was “pretty dire”, at a time when the UK economy is trying to come out of recession.

Mr King said members of the AA are already having cut down on their car journeys due to the high price of fuel, and that this latest rise will only make matters worse.  This means that the government’s revenues will not actually increase.

The Petrol Retailers Association pointed out that the price of fuel will increase once again at the end of the year when the rate of VAT increases from 15% to 17.5%.

Jo Tanner, director of communications at the Freight Transport Association, said existing high fuel prices were already having a “huge effect” on its members.

She said the freight transport sector has already seen its fuel bills rise by £800m since last December, and insolvencies have also increased by 50%.

Richard George, a road and climate campaigner at the Campaign for Better Transport, said the government should be spending the duty increase on public transport, and not just putting it into the government’s general budget.

Mr George said:

“If the money was going into public transport, drivers would be better off as there would be less cars on the road and less congestion for them,”

Supermarket group Morrisons said it will not increase the cost of fuel at its forecourts until 6 September.