FUEL duty rates must be either frozen or cut at the Budget according to eighty per cent of Brits, polling shows.
Fifty per cent are calling for John Healey to decrease the levy with 30 per cent looking for a freeze.
A further eight on ten people are concerned that increased fuel and transport costs will raise the price of food.
The warning comes after The Chancellor told The Sun last month that drivers were at the forefront of his mind as he plans his Budget for the end of October.
The research by the Road Hauliers Association says a 5p hike to fuel duty would impact their household finances with 47 per cent saying they would have to cut back.
A fifth say they couldn’t afford the hike.
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The temporary 5p fuel duty cut is due to come to an end in January.
RHA Managing Director, Richard Smith, said: “A fuel duty hike is a food price hike, and there’s clear public support to change course.
“People across the country are concerned about what fuel duty rises will do to their household budgets and the price of the weekly shop, and they’re right to be.
“Almost everything on supermarket shelves got there on a lorry. When diesel goes up that cost has nowhere to go but on to the price of goods.
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“Hundreds of hauliers have already gone under this year, with many others concerned about survival.
“Scrapping the planned fuel duty rises is the cheapest inflation control this Government has.
“An Essential User Rebate for operators who have no alternative to diesel would protect jobs, protect businesses and protect household budgets.”