The Office of National Statistics said increases in petrol prices were pushing up the price of consumer goods, including food, because firms were passing the cost on to customers.

Some Northampton haulage firms fear sustained fuel increases could put them out of business.

Hackney carriage drivers are also being hit by rising fuel prices, but will not be able to raise prices without permission from Northampton Borough Council.

Jo Matthews, of Northampton's Hackney Carriage Association, said it was urgently seeking talks with the licensing committee to raise fares temporarily or allow a fuel surcharge to be levied.

He said: "We are struggling. It is getting disastrous, to be honest. I'm paying £5 a day more to fill up than I was four months ago.

"We have absorbed for a while now, but there is no way that the price increase we got last year can cover the way diesel prices are going up."

Passengers in private hire cars could be the next group to be hit by fuel rises caused by extra duty and the soaring price of oil.

The last fare rise for private hire cars in Northampton was two years ago, but drivers now say they cannot absorb high prices and could be forced into increasing the charge per mile.

Martin Kean, the secretary of Northampton's Private Hire Association, said: "Fuel prices are every bit as important to us as haulage firms and just as unavoidable.

"We are having to suffer the loss, but you can only take so much. What can you do when the petrol goes up, except from put up your own prices?

"Ultimately, that's what you are faced with and it is the man on the street who will get hit for it."

Retail petrol prices hit £1 per litre for unleaded in Northampton after a rise at the beginning of November. Two more rises in duty are scheduled for next year.