The Coalition Government will act against multinational companies who pay tiny amounts of tax in the UK in next month's Autumn Statement, Business Secretary Vince Cable said.

The senior Liberal Democrat warned the Coalition Government had to get to grips with a systematic abuse of the system.

Last month, Prime Minister David Cameron warned he was "not happy" amid allegations Apple, Google, Facebook, eBay and Starbucks had avoided millions of pounds of tax.

The Chancellor George Osborne has already issued a joint statement with his German counterpart signalling their determination to co-ordinate action.

The UK Government insists it has to find a delicate balance between ensuring companies pay their fair share of tax and remain in the UK. But there is increasing pressure on ministers to act.

Earlier this week John Lewis, the retail giant, warned it could be killed off unless action is taken.

Mr Cable said: "Some [companies] seem to be avoiding tax systematically and this is deeply angering tens of thousands of British firms who do pay their tax properly, so, yes we've got to get to grips with it."

Asked if measures to address the situation could be expected in the Autumn Statement, he replied: "Yes, I'm sure the Chancellor will address this because there's a lot of public anger which is building up."

This week executives from Starbucks, Google and Amazon all denied accusations they were engaged in aggressive tax avoidance.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, the chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, called for a boycott of the firms, saying they avoided paying their fair share of tax.

Starbucks has reported a profit from its UK business only once in 15 years, and has paid just £8.6 million in corporation tax in 14 years.