UK diesel cheapest in Europe without taxes

Diesel in Britain would be the cheapest in western Europe if the punitive taxes were scrapped, the Government admitted today.

Business Secretary John Hutton published official figures showing the UK also had the second cheapest unleaded petrol before tax and duty were added.

The revelations are likely to infuriate hauliers and other motorists struggling to pay their fuel bills.

The Conservatives seized on the figures to blame the Government for exorbitant prices at the pump.

Shadow Treasury minister Philip Hammond said: "Gordon Brown's claim that world oil prices are to blame for the soaring cost of motoring has been exposed as a sham."

Consumer fuel prices have risen as the cost of oil spirals and while duty has remained the same at

50.3p per litre, the Government has raked in more through VAT on fuel. Hauliers, who demonstrated in London on Tuesday, have called for a 25p per litre rebate on diesel.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has signalled that he may postpone the 2p fuel duty rise due in October. However, Downing Street and the Treasury were playing down hints from other Cabinet ministers that the Government could ditch plans for retrospective rises of up to £230 a year in road tax for millions of vehicles.

The figures released today show Britain had the cheapest diesel last month - at 48.8p per litre - excluding tax and duty, among 15 leading EU countries including Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden. But once taxes were added, the pump price became the most expensive in the EU at £1.17 - and has since risen. In the wider EU, only Bulgaria had cheaper diesel before tax at 48.6p a litre. The tax component in Britain was the highest in the EU at 58 per cent.

Britain had the second cheapest premium unleaded petrol among the EU 15 before tax and duty at 41.2p, behind Sweden at 39.6p.

The AA called for the tax on fuel to be published at forecourts so drivers could keep track of how much they were paying the Treasury.

But the Treasury said that overall, the UK was a low-tax economy in relation to many European countries and had one of the lowest rates of VAT.