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Jerry Stewart, a director of Eagle Couriers, says the six-month reprieve in a fuel duty hike is a step in the right direction, but too little too late.

He adds: “I understand there is very little the Chancellor can do about the astronomical world oil price but there is a lot he can do about the whopping amount of tax added to that in the UK. By freezing the fuel duty,  at least for six months, at least he has acknowledged what hikes do to industry and may help a little.

“Oil is over $109 a barrel – that’s more than double what it was in January last year. That in itself has had a crippling effect on the transport industry. The pump price is more than £1.10 a litre for petrol and diesel – broken down that is 44p for the fuel, 50p for the duty and 16p on VAT. The Government already takes a whopping 60%.

“As business costs soar this, in turn, could possibly have a detrimental effect on the service we supply. The last thing we would ever want to do is pass on costs to customers, as this only adds to costs across the board, but continuous hikes squeeze everyone.

“The economy is already in some difficulty and by increasing the fuel duty the Government would have only added to inflationary woes. Thankfully, the Government must have had a rethink and realised that it wants to assist industry, especially businesses like ours where even  the smallest rise can have a huge impact, through this difficult time - not add further hindrance. But there is still a level of uncertainty, we need to wait and see what the position will be in six months.

“If the economy is booming more oil will be used, thus resulting in more tax. If things are slow, as they would have been with a rise, the Chancellor would be worse off. Simple sums and it seems our Government has taken the common sense approach for once.”

Eagle Couriers is Scotland’s largest independent courier company, with a fleet of around 85 vehicles.