Chancellor Gordon Brown today announced a freeze in fuel duty and increases of £5-a-week for a single pensioner and £8-a-week for a married couple.

He also unveiled a drive to make ultra low sulphur petrol the new "green" fuel, cutting its duty by 3p a litre and declaring it would be available in every garage by next year.

Mr Brown said all normal car engines could run on the supposedly environmentally-friendly fuel.

In his eagerly-awaited 49-minute speech the Chancellor said he was not prepared to take risks with the economy by lashing out billions on tax cuts.

But he added: "I recognise and I understand the very genuine concerns of motorists and hauliers."

And in response to pensioners' protests, Mr Brown declared: "I have decided that the transitional arrangements should ensure that over the next two years pensioner incomes should rise faster than inflation and indeed faster than earnings.

"So from next April we propose that for the single pensioner there should be a cash increase of £5-a-week and for a married couple a rise of £8-a-week."

There would be a further rise over the next two years to equal a rise of £8-a-week for a single person and £12.80 for couples.

To avert a repeat of September's fuel blockade, as well as a freeze on duty and help with the new ULSP, Mr Brown also announced plans for a "Brit Disc" for foreign lorries operating in the UK - though he gave no figure for the cost - and cuts in vehicle excise duty for lorries, worth between £1,000 and £4,000 per truck.