Industry experts say small businesses are already being hit by the UK's rising fuel prices with some saying jobs are at risk.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said a poll had revealed 80 per cent of firms said rising fuel costs are likely to make it harder for them to expand.
The survey also revealed nearly 40 per cent of smaller companies said petrol price rises would make it likely that they will have to let staff go within the coming year.
FSB chairman John Wright said: "Small businesses are reaching breaking point and if something is not done about rising fuel prices very quickly then we will have a major economic crisis on our hands."
The group is calling on the government to set up a system meaning higher than expected tax revenues from North Sea oil would trigger corresponding reductions in fuel duty.
More than 9,000 small businesses were polled as part of research for the organisation, which has over 215,000 members in Britain.
On Sunday average UK fuel prices stood at 118p for a litre of unleaded and 131.3p for the same quantity of diesel, according to petrolprices.com.
