Fife and Tayside road haulage chiefs yesterday dismissed the government's postponement of October's 2p-a-litre increase on fuel duty and have called for more drastic cuts in taxation.

The Fife chairman of the Scottish Road Haulage Association branded the government's announcement yesterday as "too little, too late."

Don Barclay runs Methil haulage firm Barclay Brothers Ltd and claims the price of fuelling his 16-lorry fleet has increased by 25% in the last year and now accounts for 40% of running costs.

He has called for Westminster to share a "tax windfall" from the increased cost of oil, to push towards a 20p cut on the current price of fuel.

In Angus, Carnoustie haulier David Murray said he would close his firm down immediately were it not for family involvement in the business. He said only a proper fuel concession for commercial users would give the industry fresh hope.

Mr Barclay said the government are "conning the country as far as we are concerned, they should be taking action to reduce fuel duty, never mind postponing an increase.

"The government claims they have not had a windfall in tax from the price of oil going up, but they are lying to the public.

"They also claim not as many people have been filling up at the pumps because of the price of fuel, but we all know that is not true either."

This is the second time the duty increase has been put back, as it was originally planned for March, but was shelved due to rising oil prices.

Mr Barclay added, "I would like to see a reduction in fuel duty of at least 20p, it would help industry and it would help the public.

"So far we have not looked at laying staff off but it is starting to get to that stage. It is simply too expensive to move some goods around because of the price of fuel and the public are starting to notice prices going up in the shops."

Buckhaven haulage firm Robert Summers Ltd welcomed the postponement but echoed calls for action, claiming their fuel bill has gone up by more than 30% since the beginning of the year.

David Summers, of the company, said, "Anything is better than nothing so it is definitely to be welcomed.

"Hopefully this means they are starting to listen to us down in Westminster and we are beginning to move in a forward direction. It is just a matter of battling on against increases and hoping that a solution can be reached."

David Murray, who has operated David Murray Transport for the last 23 years, said that if his family were not involved in the business he would have no qualms about walking away right now.

"I'm 63 now but I wouldn't even wait the two years to retire," he admitted, "I would shut the door tomorrow if my family were not tied up in this.

"Saying that, I doubt if anyone would want to buy the business anyway so even that's a catch-22 situation."