JUST days after petrol prices dropped to the lowest for more than 18 months, Calderdale transport companies have been hit with an extra tax on fuel.
Petrol is now selling at less than 90p a litre at garages across the district but hauliers and coach firms must now pay an extra 2p a litre on unleaded and diesel as part of a Government plan to stave off recession.
The move, announced in the recent pre-budget report, will be followed by a further 2p increase in April.
Peter Greenwood, manager of hauliers W Greenwood & Sons, of Holmfield, Halifax, said: "It's just barmy. Just as fuel is coming down, we're hit with this."
He said the new duty would add a penny to every mile his trucks run costing the company an extra £4,000 a year.
David Booth, owner of JH Booth, of Holywell Green, said they had consolidated the entire business into pet foods.
He said: "We couldn't survive in hauling. Petrol prices were coming down but duty still made competing with foreign hauliers too much. This just makes me glad we pulled out."
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