It was predicted that motorists would start to show resistance once fuel prices climbed above £1 a litre.

We have now reached that point. The dreaded threshold has arrived in Oxfordshire, with unleaded prices edging above the three-figure mark for the first time.

It remains to be seen whether people who use their cars for pleasure and for the school run and shopping, do cut back.

Many of these journeys are, of course, non-essential and could be curtailed.

But where the increase in fuel prices is likely to hit hard is in the commercial and industrial sector.

We rely heavily on road transport to keep our economy on the move.

The result will almost certainly be higher prices passed on to the consumer.

An end to the crisis in the Middle East would help.

But in the long-term, the global economy needs stability so that we do not suffer these highs and lows in fuel prices.

The oil companies are well-known for putting up prices at the slightest sign of trouble anywhere in the world, but are less inclined to put them down.

The Government has wisely decided to freeze fuel duty at least until November to ease the burden on motorists and transport firms.

Even so, it is still raking in about 63p in tax for every £1 we spend at the pumps.

It is time there was less milking of the motorist all round.