Prime minister David Cameron has insisted the government will do all it can to prevent petrol and diesel prices from spiralling upwards.

During a local election campaign in Derbyshire, Mr Cameron revealed that the Labour Party had set out a "whole lot of plans" for fuel duty increases and the Coalition has done its best to scrap the majority of these, the Telegraph reports.

In fact, the prime minister described the proposed duty hikes as "unexploded bombs which we have had to try and defuse".

Logistics companies have been crippled by excessive fuel costs in recent years and many have been losing out on contracts to European firms that benefit from cheaper prices on the continent.

Chancellor George Osborne scrapped a planned 3p fuel duty rise in his latest Budget and Mr Cameron is keen to keep prices down in the coming years.

"We even cut fuel duty on one occasion. We will keep going to try and keep those fuel duty increases off," he was quoted as saying.