COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE

The Countryside Alliance today praised the Chancellor George Osborne's decision to reverse the planned rise in fuel duty and freeze any rise until the end of the year.

Responding to the news that the Chancellor George Osborne has today decided to scrap the 3p rise in fuel duty planned for August; Barney White-Spunner, Executive Chairman of the Countryside Alliance, said:

“In March I described the car as an ‘unaffordable necessity’ for many rural families, because the cost of running a vehicle in the countryside has increased far beyond any rise in rural wages. So the Chancellor’s decision to scrap the planned rise in fuel duty is very welcome and a timely boost for the rural economy. Although times are tough in the countryside, where a car is an essential part of living, this freeze will go a long way to helping out hard-pressed rural motorists.”

The Countryside Alliance has released two major reports on the cost of running a car in rural areas.

The first in September 2011 compared the average length of the commute for people living in rural and urban areas, we found that people living in rural Local Authorities will spend on average £67.45 on fuel each month getting to work – a massive £16.50 (or 24 per cent) more than those in urban LAs.

The second in March 2012 compared the average price of fuel at filling stations in rural and urban areas and found that, on average, the price of the cheapest litre of diesel was over 4p more per litre at rural filling stations than it was at stations in urban towns and cities.