Motorists are being "fleeced" by Government taxation, with drivers paying £42 billion a year to the Treasury.

Yet only 18.6 per cent of this tax goes back into roads infrastructure, according to research for FairFuelUK.

The study showed 26.8 per cent of the amount raised by road taxes went on public transport, with 54.6 per cent supporting other Government spending. Also, 69 per cent of the 2,024 people surveyed said they thought a 3p-a-litre fuel duty cut would benefit the economy.

The figures come as Fair­FuelUK, whose backers include the RAC and the Freight Transport Assoc­iation, launches its General Election manifesto.

Howard Cox, the campaign group's founder, said: "Time is up for the Treasury to stop fleecing 70 per cent of the electorate from punitively taxing an essential, no-choice-but-to-use resource. Instead of taking more than 60 per cent when we fill up at the pumps, they should be motivating the economy by cutting this tax."

In separate research, the RAC Foundation said in 2012 a total of £30.7bn was raised from direct motoring taxation (excluding VAT). In the same year £7.5bn (24 per cent of motoring tax income) was spent on the road network: £3bn of it on national roads and £4.5bn on local roads.