Chancellor George Osborne has been criticised by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) for failing to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the Autumn Statement to reduce fuel duty. 

Ahead of the Autumn Statement, the FTA had called on the chancellor to implement a 3p per litre reduction in fuel duty to ease pressures on domestic road freight.

It was suggested that such an action could also serve to stimulate growth and create jobs - but Mr Osborne did not announce any such measure. 

Director of policy at the FTA Karen Dee said this economic relief is greatly needed by the freight industry - and not just in "the logistics sector, which faces continuing difficult trading conditions, but also to the wider motoring public who rely on their cars to get to and from work".

An FTA-funded study found that a similar measure - low forecourt prices - raised gross domestic product by 0.6 per cent, created 121,000 new jobs and stimulated an extra £11.6 billion of economic activity.