Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling were set to meet oil industry leaders in Scotland today as they came under growing pressure to curb soaring fuel prices.

Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, both from their own Labour backbenchers and from the public. Yesterday road hauliers mounted high profile protests in London and South Wales, with hundreds of lorry drivers demanding cuts in the duty on diesel to help save the British haulage industry.

Today Mr Brown appeared to damp down hopes of a swift solution to high fuel prices, warning that there was "no easy answer" to the problem as the world faced its "third great oil shock".

He said that international action would be needed to bring down the price of oil, which has increased from $10 a barrel ten years ago to a high of $135 a barrel yesterday, although in a volatile market the price fell back $7 overnight.

Mr Brown plans to ask energy chiefs to step up the output of oil from Britain's North Sea oil fields, it is believed.

At the same time, there are signs that the Government is preparing for a U-turn on huge rises in road and petrol tax which are set to affect millions of motorists in the coming months.

After warnings from MPs that the party was alienating ordinary voters, two Cabinet ministers - Jack Straw and John Hutton -suggested yesterday that the Pre-Budget report in the autumn would contain changes to plans set out by the Chancellor in March.

In an article today, the Prime Minister acknowledges the public’s concern about the impact the rising oil price was having on transport and fuel bills.

He wrote: “I know that families up and down the country are feeling the impact in the cost of filling up at the petrol station and in the rise in gas and electricity bills.

“The cause of rising prices is clear: growing demand and too little supply to meet it both now and - perhaps of even greater significance - in the future.

“Our goal that Britain becomes a low-carbon economy is now an economic priority as well as an environmental imperative.”

Mr Brown said the UK was arguing for a global strategy addressing the impact of higher oil prices to top the economic agenda at the forthcoming G8 summit in Japan.

He said more must be done to help the global oil market function efficiently, and called for “enhanced dialogue” between oil producers and consumers.

Mr Brown said the best long-term solution for consumers and the environment would be a radically different energy policy.

He wrote: “If we are to ensure a better deal for consumers, energy security and lower greenhouse gas emissions, Britain, Europe and the world will have to change how we use energy and the type of energy we use.

“We need to accelerate the development and deployment of alternative sources of energy, reducing global dependence on oil. Britain will increase its investment in renewables, including decentralised generation.

“We will build one of the world’s first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage coal plants and we have committed to a nuclear building programme to ensure that the UK’s emissions and dependence on fossil fuels do not rise as existing nuclear stations close.”

Mr Brown said the winter fuel allowance, free insulation for over 75s and a £150 million programme to help the poor with fuel bills would help and said it was planned to insulate another five million homes and give three million more access to free or discounted energy-efficiency products.

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