The fuel protests taking place in London this week will do very little for the ordinary motorist, even if they succeed. That's the verdict from PetrolPrices.com's founder.

The aim of the protests is to get the government to introduce an 'essential user rebate' – a rebate of 20p on fuel for hauliers.

However a rebate will do nothing to reduce the fuel costs for non-hauliers. In the current economic climate, fuel tax needs a drastic overhaul.

In the meantime, the UK has had six weeks of record-breaking prices where each day has broken the record of the day before. In that period, the national average price of unleaded has risen 7.2p, from 107.8p to 115.0p.

Diesel has risen an eye-watering 11.1p per litre in the same time, from 116.8p to 127.9p.

Louise Doherty