Motorists will have to dig deep into their pockets to fund yet more fuel price hikes, whatever the outcome of tomorrow's budget. Autocar experts have forecast that 120p per litre is no more than a few weeks away.

"The good old motorist provides the Treasury with so much revenue. The 65% tax charged per litre of fuel raises around £25 billion annually," said Chas Hallett, editor Autocar.

"Especially shocking when our investigations reveal that the oil companies take 31% for actual production costs and make only 4% profit – in an increasingly difficult and competitive industry."

He continued: "Fuel duty is fast approaching 70% per litre and there is little indication that the Treasury sees an effective upper limit to the tax take.

"We’d like to see a fairer system of pricing introduced that supports the industry when it needs it and does not continue to penalise the motorist."

Coming out of a very tough recession, motorists are questioning more than ever how the price of their fuel has climbed so high and so rapidly, when the price of crude has not.

Autocar can reveal that the cost of crude oil is only a very small part of the final pump price, and that wider economic and geopolitical factors have a bigger impact.

(PR/BMcC)