Britain's motorists will pay an extra 2.12p-a-litre for their petrol and diesel from today as the Government introduced an increase in fuel duty that will raise the annual tax bill of the average family by £54.

The AA said that the rises, which take the national average price of petrol to 94.22-a-litre, were “certainly no joke” to drivers, while the Freight Transport Association said the increase would “push businesses over the edge”.

The average price of a litre of diesel will increase to £1.03, while the average cost of a litre of petrol from a supermarket pump rises to 90.22p.

The rise in fuel duty has already been deferred twice by the Government, which announced in the 2008 Budget it would delay the introduction until October 1.

However, in July, when oil prices hit a record high of $147.47 a barrel, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, deferred the rise again after a public outcry at the cost of petrol.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said today's rise would add £1 to the average bill every time a driver fills up their tank.

“It’s a shame that this and other fuel tax increases will severely dent consumer spending and undermine the UK’s economic recovery," he said.

“Taking an extra £1 off drivers each time they fill up their tank is £1 taken away from the high street and leisure spending that would help the economy.”

The fuel rises were introduced a day after Mr Darling bowed to pressure and cut the planned 5 per cent rise in business rates that was threatening to cripple many small firms.

In a last-minute reprieve, the Chancellor said that the rate rise, which applies only in England at present, would be scaled back to 2 per cent this year, and that businesses could spread payments of the remaining 3 per cent increase between 2010 and 2012.

The rising petrol costs provide another blow to Britons who are already reeling from surging unemployment and curbs on pay.

A record number of Britons signed up for jobless benefits in February, putting the country on course for the highest level of unemployment in four decades.

The number of jobless jumped by 165,000 to 2.03 million in the three months to January and economists predict the number could eventually reach 3.3 million. This is higher than the mass unemployment endured under Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government in the early 1980s and at any time since records began in the early 1970s.

Furthermore, pay freezes have become far more prevalent in recent months, making up one in five of recent wage settlements, according to the pay research group Incomes Data Services.

After the headline retail prices index (RPI) gauge of inflation – a key benchmark for wage deals - turned negative for the first time in half a century pay cuts are becoming more widespread.

Honda, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover have all offered their staff pay cuts as an alternative to redundancy in recent weeks.

Last month, the Bank of England’s network of regional agents reported that “a growing minority of contacts [at businesses] intended to impose pay cuts.”

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