CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has deprived sick and mistreated animals of tens of thousands of pounds by raising duty on fuel. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is £82,000 a year worse off as a result of the Budget, because of the extra fuel burden it puts on the all diesel fleet of 550 vehicles.

Sue Tonks, the charity's fleet manager, is now desperately looking at ways to prevent the increase in fuel hitting the charity too hard. She said: 'In black and white terms the Chancellor has taken £82,000 from the charity which was used to rescue animals. An awful lot of donations are needed to make up that amount. It's not as if we could cut down on our mileage or the number of vehicles used. Another alternative is LPG, but without the refuelling network it's a long way off before it becomes a mainstream fuel.'

Leaded petrol has gone up by 3.79p a litre/17.22p a gallon, diesel has increased by 6.14p a litre/27.91p a gallon and ultra-low sulphur diesel has increased by 4.96p a litre/22.5p a gallon. 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 £9,664.50, 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 £12,673. But by switching to ultra-low sulphur diesel the same fleet can reduce its fuel bill to £8,268, a saving of more than £4,000 for a 100-strong diesel fleet.