Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, has bowed to massive public and political pressure and scrapped a 2p rise in fuel duty planned for this autumn.

The move emerged in a written answer to a parliamentary question and was confirmed in a Treasury statement shortly after official figures showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit was climbing at the fastest rate for more than 15 years.

Mr Darling announced in this year's Budget that he was deferring a long-scheduled 2p rise until October 1. With oil prices soaring - delivering a tax windfall to Government - motorists and hauliers have questioned both the need and the wisdom of a further rise in duty.

Today's move means that the planned rise has been deferred again, until at least April next year.

Expert View

Today's decision was easy and pain-free for Mr Darling. He has a lot harder ones ahead

Philip Webster

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Mr Darling said: "The global credit crunch and sharp rises in world oil prices have pushed up prices at the pump. Today’s decision will help motorists and businesses get through what is a difficult time for everyone."

The decision to scrap the fuel duty rise came as up to 600,000 public sector workers started a 48-hour strike over pay despite Mr Darling's repeated calls for wage restraint.

In its statement, the Treasury said that main road fuel duty rates would remain at 50.35p after October 1. "This is 17 per cent lower in real terms than in 1999," it said. "Consequential, planned increases in road fuel gases, biofuel duty rates and rebated oils rates will also be postponed."

The Treasury explained that the the decision to defer the rise in duty had been taken in response to sharp rises in world commodity prices, with the price of oil almost doubling over the past year to reach a real-terms record high of $146 a barrel.

"This has inevitably had significant knock-on effects on the price of road fuels, which the Government is committed to taking into account when considering decisions on fuel duties," it said.

"Postponing the planned increase in fuel duty is also consistent with the Government’s commitment to support the Bank of England in maintaining low inflation. Future rate decisions are a matter for the Budget."

Motoring organisations welcomed the move but called for more to be done to ease the pressure on motorists. The RAC said: "This is welcome news but it does not go far enough. We would like to see the Chancellor not just postpone future rises but actually cut fuel duty."

The Treasury says that if fuel duty had risen in line with inflation since the end of 1999 it would now be around 60p per litre. If it had risen in line with the fuel duty escalator introduced by the Tories but scrapped by Labour in 2000 it would be close to 80 pence per litre.

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