Chancellor Gordon Brown has put his name to a joint statement with other G8 finance ministers calling for Opec countries to increase oil production.

Leaders of the major economies fear high petrol prices will undermine the global economic recovery.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport David Begg is urging Brown to resist demands from hauliers and motoring groups for a reduction in fuel taxes.

"Your decision to increase fuel duty in line with inflation was the correct one when considering that, in real terms, the cost of motoring has been falling over the last 25 years," he said in a letter to the chancellor.