Ministers are preparing for a fresh confrontation with the road haulage industry as the £5 gallon of petrol became a reality at the pumps yesterday.

Fuel protests returned as hauliers demanded help from oil companies and the Treasury, which is raking in huge surpluses from record petrol prices. The cost of filling an average car could reach £84 next year, one consumer body will say today. Air passengers are also being hit as British Airways announced that it was slapping new fuel surcharges on all tickets from Friday to offset the escalating cost of fuel. Long-haul passengers can expect an extra £30 surcharge.

About 250 lorries caused disruption in Central London, evoking memories of the refinery blockades of September 2000. Further protests are to be staged by hauliers and farmers around the country as campaigners try to keep the issue in the public eye.

A spokesman for Transaction-2007, which organised yesterday’s protest, said: “Any further rise in cost of fuel will be an obvious trigger. We need to keep the issue alive and win support from ordinary motorists who are also being hit by higher fuel bills.”

Huw Thomas, 47, who runs a timber haulage company in Rhayader, Powys, said: “Fuel prices are absolutely ridiculous. It’s going to finish us in a few weeks the way things are going. We have to make our presence felt today. I would certainly be in favour of blockading oil refineries.”

As hauliers demanded immediate financial help, BP and Shell announced combined profits of £7.2 billion in only three months. Soaring prices are also delivering unexpected surpluses for the Government in the form of higher tax revenues from North Sea oil. If prices remain at current levels, the Treasury could receive as much as an extra £2.5 billion.

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, said that Gordon Brown would be “quietly delighted” as the oil tax revenues fill depleted coffers and urged Alistair Darling to keep the fuel duty rise under review.

Mr Cable, a former chief economist at Shell, said Chakib Khelil, president of Opec, had been right to give warning that the oil price could reach $200 a barrel. “There’s the potential for a major oil shock on top of what we already have today,” Mr Cable said.

Roger King, chief executive of the Road Hauliers Association, called for a windfall tax on the leading oil companies. “Investment in the haulage industry could come from a windfall tax or from the Government’s own profits from extra VAT on fuel. We are under the cosh and hauliers are the most taxed sector of the UK economy.”

He also urged the Chancellor to scrap the 2p rise in fuel duty defered from this month and now planned for October. “We want him to make clear now that the October increase will also be shelved.”

But John Hutton, the Business Secretary, warned those planning disruption that the Government was ready to defeat any attempts to disrupt supply. A spokeswoman said that the Grangemouth dispute — which appeared to be nearing resolution last night after “constructive and meaningful” talks between Ineos, the owner, and the Unite union — had shown that a national emergency plan worked up after the 2000 disputes had worked.

Motorists will be paying as much as £1.50 per litre of petrol next year, a further 37 per cent increase on current prices, according to research out this week. The cost of filling an average tank of petrol is set to soar from £61 to £84 in 2009, according to the figures from USwitch, the consumer group.

People living in the country were urged to step up security on their domestic oil supplies after a spate of thefts at Cornish farms and rural properties.

How to save it

— Accelerate gently and change up as soon as possible

— Use your rev counter: 2,500rpm is ideal speed for changing gear (2,000 rpm for a diesel vehicle)

— Maintain a steady speed when cruising. Repeated accelerating and braking uses more fuel

— When stopping, take your foot off the accelerator as soon as you see a red light in front of you

— Keep tyres at the recommended pressure and your engine well lubricated with oil

Sources: cleanmpg.com; ecodrive.org; hypermiling.com

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive