At last; some good news for we motorists. Chancellor Alistair Darling has finally seen sense and postponed the government’s planned 2p fuel duty rise which was scheduled to be introduced in October.

The announcement comes in the face of record fuel prices, and growing protests from hard-hit motorists and truckers. Of course, today’s announcement won’t do anything to reduce the sky-high costs of petrol and diesel, but the Chancellor did say he believed his decision would “help motorists and businesses get through what is a difficult time for everyone.”

Originally the rise in fuel duty was planned to be introduced in March, but was set back to October following the sharp rise in oil prices. A new date for the 2p rise is yet to be announced. The next step, of course, is to see whether Mr darling will actually take the bull by the horns and reduce fuel duty, a call which was made today by a spokesperson for the RAC.

“While we welcome today’s decision by the Chancellor,” he said, “we would like to see him not just postpone fuel rises but actually cut fuel duty.” Don’t hold your breath.