CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer Gordon Brown undermined the business friendly message in his Budget by hitting fleet fuel bills to the tune of thousands of pounds. Brown stuck to Government pledges to raise fuel prices 6% above the rate of inflation.

This will push the price of a gallon of both unleaded petrol and diesel over the £3 mark to an average of £3.07 for petrol and £3.20 for diesel. This equates to a 4p a litre/18.2p a gallon increase in unleaded petrol, and 6p a litre/27.28p a gallon increase in diesel.

The result is that the fuel bill for a typical 100-car unleaded petrol-engined fleet averaging 32mpg and clocking up 18,000 miles per vehicle each year will rise by £10,201, according to PHH Vehicle Management. Similarly a 100-car diesel fleet averaging 39.6mpg and clocking up 18,000 miles each year will pay an extra £12,382.

But there is some good news with Brown freezing the duty on ultra-low sulphur diesel, making it 3p per litre cheaper than standard diesel. The Chancellor of the Exchequer says that by using the ultra-low sulphur diesel fleets can expect to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% a vehicle in the first year.

• For your free ACL guide to how this Budget affects company cars - published in conjunction with Deloitte & Touche - click here.