Farmers and other rural drivers would suffer a 'hammer blow' if Chancellor Rachel Reeves hikes fuel duty in the autumn budget, campaigners have warned.
Ahead of the budget on Wednesday 30 October, the Countryside Alliance has written to Ms Reeves demanding pump levies are frozen and the 5p cut remains in place.
Research shows rural drivers spend almost £800 more each year on petrol than those in urban areas, owing to longer drives to carry out everyday activities and a lack of reliable public transport.
Fuel duty has been frozen since 2011 and at the weekend, the Countryside Alliance joined The Sun’s ‘Keep it Down’ campaign, which calls for another year of held rates.
In his letter to the chancellor, Tim Bonner, chief executive of the rural group, said cars were an 'absolute lifeline' for rural communities.
He said: “Pressure on rural communities’ finances remains, and so we would argue that now is not the time to let the cut lapse.
“The government needs to spare a thought for people outside cities who can’t rely on public transport, which in many cases isn’t even an option.
“A fuel duty hike would be a hammer blow at a time when many rural people are already struggling.”
The call to maintain the current fuel duty rate forms part of the campaigners' efforts to highlight the ‘rural premium’: the added costs people must pay for living in a rural area.
Their letter further asks the chancellor to confirm that any future model for road pricing – made necessary by falls in fuel duty revenue as a result of drivers eventually switching to electric vehicles – would take account of the extra miles people living in rural areas must drive.
Another request in the Countryside Alliance's letter to Ms Reeves is to reduce the VAT rate on domestic heating fuel to zero.
