Families across the West are hoping George Osborne will give them some good news on soaring petrol prices in his Budget today.

The Chancellor is expected to scrap – or at least postpone – the 1p hike in fuel duty that Labour had pencilled in for April 1.

However, hard-pressed motorists will want him to do more, with prices at the pumps at record levels.

The Government has applied to the European Commission to be allowed to cut fuel duty by 5p on the Scottish islands and the Scilly Isles, but the rural West was snubbed.

Yesterday shadow Treasury Minister Angela Eagle said: "With petrol prices today hitting a new record high of 140p for a litre of diesel George Osborne needs to take immediate action.

"Simply canceling or postponing the annual duty rise next month, as Labour regularly did in government when oil prices were rising, will not be enough.

"George Osborne needs to admit he got it wrong in January and reverse the Tory VAT rise on petrol, which is adding £1.35 to the cost of filling up a 50 litre tank of fuel."

However Conservative MP Claire Perry condemned Labour for being "cynical, muddled and financially incoherent" on petrol costs.

She said the Opposition has only just converted to supporting rural motorists, and in government Labour imposed 12 fuel duty rises.

A change in VAT just for petrol would also be illegal under European law, she added – but she urged Mr Osborne to provide some help for rural motorists.

"In my constituency of Devizes we have to use our cars to go about our everyday business and the current high cost of petrol is causing real financial hardship."

Mr Osborne is unlikely to take Labour's advice, despite opinion polls showing cutting the cost of fuel is voters' Budget priority, but he is expected to help drivers with an extra £100m to fill potholes left by this winter's severe weather.

The Chancellor may propose merging income tax and national insurance, freeze air passenger duty and hit the rich with a 'Learjet levy' on their private planes.

He will include measures to help West youngsters leave the dole queues and find jobs, including thousands more apprenticeships and work experience places.

Some politicians are calling for an end to the beer duty 'escalator' that could see pubs hit with a further 7.1 per cent rise in duty.

The National Pensioners Convention urged action to help older people, saying they have been among the worst hit by the Government's austerity measures.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said unemployment was rising in the South West, reaching 169,000, and families and businesses were facing tough times.

He said: "There have got to be some tough choices to get the deficit down. But the Government is going too far and too fast. And you can't get the deficit down if the economy isn't growing and you're throwing hundreds of thousands of people out of work."