THE prospect of a £1 litre of petrol in the North-East and North Yorkshire is within sight - provoking a renewed attack on fuel duty.

A garage in North Yorkshire is now charging 99.9p for a litre of lead replacement petrol, the equivalent of £4.54 a gallon.

Tory leader and Richmond MP William Hague said the threat to the £1 barrier was not the fault of the garage, at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, but of the Labour Government.

He said: "We wouldn't have put it up to this level had we remained in power. They should stop the automatic increase in the price of petrol every year."

Tony Blair came under renewed fire yesterday after delivering his "pay up and shut up" message to motorists campaigning against high petrol prices.

He said in a Sunday news-paper: "Cutting fuel duty by 2p would cost almost £1bn.

"It's easy for campaigners to put up signs outside garages saying so much goes to the Treasury.

"But you don't hear them talking about putting up signs outside hospitals saying the number of nurses and doctors will have to be cut because the Government doesn't have enough money."

Edmund King, director of the RAC Foundation, described as "disingenuous" the remarks that hospitals and education would suffer if fuel prices were cut.

He claimed the Treasury had already received a multi-billion windfall, because steep rises in petrol prices meant extra VAT for the Government.

The Petrol Retailers' Association accused Mr Blair of "deceiving" motorists who had voted for Labour on a pledge of no tax increases and said his remarks "insult the intelligence of the motorist in the UK".

Director Ray Holloway said: "Everyone wants better services, of course they do, but it's a question of openness.

"In the three years of Labour rule with a 40 per cent increase in fuel price since then, 32 per cent is actually due to tax."

Mr Blair's message came ahead of a nationwide petrol boycott of garages "Dump the Pump" planned for August 1.

Motorists are being asked to refuse to buy petrol or diesel on that day, a Tuesday, and to repeat the exercise every Monday until prices and taxes come down.