There will be something for everyone at next Sunday’s annual Horse and Pony Show in Long Sutton (June 28th).

Its popular dog show will be back alongside two showing rings for horses and ponies and fun classes.

The ‘handy pony ring’ is a new addition - which features ponies showcasing their skills at activities such as walking across stepping stones, hanging out the washing and posting a letter.

This year the affiliated showing classes include qualifiers for Royal London, Equifest, 15+, Think Pink and the East Anglia Horse Show.

The show will be especially poignant this year with the Louise Bishell trophy awarded for the small breed M and M (Mountain and Moorland) in-hand. Louise, from Gedney Dyke, died this year from cancer. She was 40 years old.

Show secretary Nicola Clarey, said: “Louise was well-known on the showing circuit and her pony was an M and M small breed. The trophy will be presented by her partner Ollie Bingham and her sister Jodie White.”

There will also be a trophy for the Supreme winner which is sponsored by Lynas Vokes in Long Sutton.

Nicola said: “This is the trophy awarded to the overall winner with £50 going to the champion and £25 to the reserve.

“The show is a bit different this year in that there is no show-jumping but with the handy pony ring being a first. There will also be trade stands, craft stalls and a few small funfair rides. The dog show is always popular.”

The show, held at Cinder Ash Park in Roman Bank, starts at 9am and ends at around 5.30pm. There is a fee of £5 per entry per showing for each class if paid in advance or £8 on the day.

The Louise Bishell trophy has been donated by www.jodsnjackets.co.uk and www.andrewssupplies.co.uk

It’s never a better time to find a job in South Holland and the Deepings.

The latest employment figures have been released and show there are 290 fewer people in the district claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance than a year ago.

Seven hundred and 42 people are registered unemployed, but this is a 28 per cent reduction on 2014 figures.

In Spalding, 696 people are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance - 267 less than a year ago and a 27 per cent reduction.

Becky Newborough, senior operations leader for Lincolnshire and Rutland and in charge of nine job centres in the area, is delighted with the figures.

She said: “There has also been a six per cent reduction of young people in Spalding claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance - with just 170 claiming.

“This is all excellent knews.

“The labour market is really buoyant at the moment - last month there were 700,000 vacancies on the Universal Jobs Market.

“People in Spalding will travel to places such as Peterborough and Kings Lynn.

“In Spalding there are not many national employers, but there is a steady turnover of jobs.

“Things are looking good.

“Bakkavor is a big provider of jobs and representatives of the company are planning to come into the job centre to talk to people about the opportunities on offer and advice on interview techniques.

”And there are also a lot of opportunities in factories.”

Anyone seeking employment should visit www.gov.uk as their first port of call to sign on and use the jobsearch.

Work coaches are available at Jobcentre Plus in Westlode Street to give support.

A witness has told the Warren Free murder trial how the victim returned to his home covered in blood after going outside to challenge a gang of noisy teenagers who were damaging his fence.

The witness, who cannot be identified, told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court: “He had blood on his nose. He said these kids had thrown stuff at his fence. He had a black eye. His face was covered in blood and he had blood on his T-shirt. He said there were eight kids. They were all under 18.”

The witness said that Warren Free had spent the day with two mates at his home but after the men left he was disturbed by noise coming from the park at the back of his home in Coronation Close, Spalding.

The jury has been told that Mr Free returned home first for a digital device with the aim of taking photographs of the youths and then came back for a metal pole which he took to the park.

The prosecution allege that Mr Free (43) was then attacked and knocked to the ground before the metal pole was used to beat him about the head.

The witness said: “He’d always had the pole. He was kind of paranoid that someone will come and attack him.”

On the third day of the trial witness Ashley Stafford told the jury how he heard noise in the early hours of the morning from a group of youths at the junction of Thames Road and Severn Road and was so concerned he rang the police.

Mr Stafford said: “I was in the house with a friend. We were awake. I heard people walking about. We didn’t think anything of it. To begin with we ignored the noise. Then the noise got more. We thought a girl was being raped. That’s why we called the police.

“I looked out of the window. It was pitch black – just street lamps. I wasn’t able to see anybody. Then after all the commotion we saw people. I saw four people go one way and then two girls and a bloke go the other way.”

Earlier the prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC said that police attended in response to the call and stopped three of the youngsters including Jake Edwards and the two female defendants. At the time officers had no knowledge of the incident with Mr Free. Edwards admitted he had been noisy and had been in the park but when he was checked he had no injuries and there were no signs that he had been fighting.

He was allowed to go on his way and the two girls were taken to the home of one of them.

Six teenagers all deny the murder of Warren Free on August 29, 2014. Three of the defendants, including a girl, were 14 at the time while the others were a girl of 15 and a 16 year old together with Jake Edwards, now 18.

Two of the boys, who were 14 and 16 at the time, each deny a charge of perverting the course of justice relating to the disposal of the metal pole in a nearby waterway.

The trial continues.

WARREN FREE MURDER DAYS ONE AND TWO: Girl (15) told sister she had attacked victim with metal bar, court hears

Broadband speeds across Lincolnshire are soaring thanks to the county council’s broadband partnership with BT.

The Onlincolnshire project is this week announcing that high-speed fibre broadband has now reached more than 100,000 homes and businesses. It’s also being revealed that RAF Scampton, home of the famous Red Arrows, is one of the areas to recently benefit from the countywide roll-out.

A new fibre broadband cabinet that serves the base has been installed and switched on, meaning military families and servicemen and women living there can now access download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second and uploads of up to 20Mbps.

Wing Commander Mike Harrop, Station Commander at RAF Scampton, said: “Essential investment like this in the county’s infrastructure has complemented recent on-station investment at Scampton and has undoubtedly improved the quality of life for the military families living in this part of the county.”

The Onlincolnshire project builds on the private sector’s roll-out of fibre broadband; BT’s commercial rollout has already made high-speed fibre broadband available to more than 228,000 homes and businesses in Lincolnshire.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for IT at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We’re seeing a real increase in the number of people signing up for superfast broadband, and with the improvements being rolled out, even more will be able to benefit.

“Improved broadband is not only vital for business growth, but for all residents accessing services, including the growing number of silver surfers, and for young people looking to download learning materials. The possibilities are endless. So check our website to find out whether you’re in a superfast area, and contact your internet service provider to upgrade your package.”

The arrival of faster fibre broadband at RAF Scampton follows months of careful planning by engineers from Openreach – BT’s local network business – due to the rural location of the new fibre broadband cabinet and its proximity to an active military base.

Steve Henderson, BT’s regional director of next generation access, said: “Across the county more than 328,000 homes and businesses now have access to high-speed fibre broadband thanks to Onlincolnshire and BT’s own commercial fibre broadband programme. We are now reaching into the heart of scores of communities across the region bringing them within reach of this vital technology and enabling them to fly the internet at superfast speeds.”

As part of the Onlincolnshire project, more than 450 new roadside fibre cabinets have already been installed and around 500kms of fibre cable laid as part of the rollout – enough to stretch along the main runway at RAF Scampton more than 180 times.

Because the work is being carried out by Openreach, residents and businesses wanting to upgrade have a wide choice of service providers, with more than 140 fibre broadband companies now operating in the UK.

Benefits of fibre broadband include faster download and upload speeds; the ability to access the internet via multiple devices without experiencing a slow connection, faster downloads of films and music, a better online gaming experience, improved file sharing for businesses, solutions based on Cloud computing and being able to work more flexibly.

For more information about the Onlincolnshire partnership between Lincolnshire County Council and BT please visit www.onlincolnshire.org

Students from a Spalding school are rockin’ all the way to the premier division next year.

Sir John Gleed School came third after winning eight awards of excellence for video performance, soundtrack, visual enhancement, set design and function, costuming character, entertainment, choreography and performance skill.

Miss Emma Ringrose, who led the team, said: ”We now have to up our game even more.” Pictured are the prizewinners with their certificates. SG150615-103TW

Lincolnshire Trading Standards is urging people to be aware of an international postcode lottery ‘scam’ circulating the area.

The Standard was contacted yesterday by a local resident who had received a letter purporting to be from the ‘EuroMillions People’s International Postcode Lottery’.

The letter, headed with the National Lottery’s Euro Millions logo, claims the recipient has won £720,000 and urges him to make a claim by calling a phone number.

“I have not long recovered from a stroke, and this has been worrying me all week,” said the man, who asked not to be named.

“I have never entered this lottery and I think it’s a scam. I want to warn other people not to fall for this either.”

The letter warns the recipient: “Please to help us proceed with your claims, this information must be kept away from public to avoid unwarranted abuse of the program or fraudulent acts from criminal minded and unauthorized person(s).”

The Standard showed the letter to Lincolnshire Trading Standards.

Andy Wright, principal trading standards officer, said: “This certainly looks like scam mail. Lotteries/ prize draws are common types of postal scams. You may receive a letter congratulating you on winning a cash prize. Usually you’ll be given a number to call, but if you do, you’ll be asked to pay a fee or buy goods before the prize is ‘released’. But you won’t receive any prize, and you may be asked to pay further increasing fees or to call a premium rate number.

“Our advice is do not respond to these letters. A genuine lottery won’t ever ask you to pay a fee to collect your winnings. If you have received one of these letters, or if you feel you have been conned, call Action Fraud immediately on 0300 1232040.”

Two men have been charged in connection with a firearms-related incident in Boston on Saturday.

Michal Jan Tkaczyk (32), and Adrian Stanislaw Zuchowski (25), both of Larkspur Croft, were charged with GBH and false imprisonment. Tkaczyk was also charged with possession of a firearm.

Both men appeared before Lincoln Magistrates today (Wednesday), where they were remanded in custody.

Chief Inspector Paul Timmins said: “Two suspects have been charged but we are still interested in hearing from anyone who may have witnessed anything in the Larkspur Croft area of Boston on Saturday, June 13.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lincolnshire Police on 101.

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Two “outstanding” suspects arrested in Boston shooting

Arthur Edgley was a smallholder from his early 20s, but his heart has always been in the skies.

Being shot down in 1943 – which resulted in him being interrogated by the Gestapo, accused of being a spy, and then locked up in a camp for almost two years – left his love of flying undimmed.

Arthur doesn’t regret returning from war and taking on the Lutton Marsh smallholding, but he has taken every opportunity to fly over the years. In fact, the last time the 94-year-old took to the skies was just last year.

His interest in joining the RAF began as a boy when his family lived at Gedney Drove End close to the bombing range.

He was 19 when he finally joined up in 1940, and would have joined sooner had his farm work not been regarded as a reserved occupation.

On his fifth attempt Arthur was taken on and began training as a pilot. His first solo flight left him feeling “a big man” and soon after he and the other recruits sailed to Canada to train on Tiger Moths.

It was at that point it was decided there were too many pilots, and Arthur was switched to being a rear gunner.

He was acting as rear gunner in May 1943 when the Short Stirling he was in was shot over Germany. The 21-year-old pilot continued flying on two engines, eventually crashing or “gradually coming down from 12,000 feet” in a corn field in Holland.

Arthur says: “We hit the floor and smashed up and I never had a scratch.”

Two of them walked out, another bailed out and two of the crew were killed.

Thanks to his pilot training, Arthur was able to lead the survivors away from the crash site, navigating by the stars.

They were free for six weeks, during which time Dutch families helped them as they made their way on foot towards France.

Finally, they were betrayed and a train journey supposedly to Spain and from there to freedom ended up with them being captured by the Germans.

They were taken to one of the most notorious jails in the world, in Paris, and Arthur’s strongest memory of this time is one of hunger. However, it was while they were there that the men were interrogated by the Gestapo twice and told they would be shot as spies.

Arthur says when they were told they would go to a prison camp instead, it was “the best news I have heard in my life.”

Arthur spent the next 20 months in Stalag IV-B in Germany, before being liberated by the Russians in 1945.

Before he left the camp, Arthur managed to get his hands on his own prison record, just one of the fascinating historic artefacts from his time at war.

Businesses are being urged to fly the flag for Spalding by using the town’s new logo.

Town centre manager Dennis Hannant has been sending out a reminder to those not already using it.

The logo was designed by Graham Taylor, a former Spalding man who moved to New York 11 years ago and still has family in the town. It features a tulip graphic and describes the town as a Fenland Treasure.

When the logo was revealed in March, Mr Hannant described it as contemporary but still saying something about Spalding’s history. As well as being used on letterheads, there are also plans for it to go T-shirts and coffee mugs.

Mr Hannant said: “Some businesses are using the logo but we need more.

“Graham is coming over from New York to visit his family soon, so it would be nice to see it used all over town.

“I’m hoping to get some T-shirts printed too.”

Businesses already using the logo on pamphlets and in brochures are Gibbs Shoe Shop in Hall Place and Masons Models in New Road. Tulip Radio is also using it on its website.

It will also feature on next year’s Visit Spalding guide.

When Arthur Edgley finally made it back to England – their sense of adventure obviously awakened by their exploits, a group of newly released prisoners decided to give their liberators the slip, and made their own way home – he was cleaned up, given a new suit and rank (from sergeant to warrant officer), and enough money to get home.

He returned to parents who, on hearing in May that Arthur had been shot down and was missing, assumed he was dead. The news of his survival and capture didn’t reach them until September.

During his six weeks’ leave, Arthur married Joan Lawson. The couple went on to have two daughters, Carol and Diane, and have grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Civvy life meant a return to farming for Arthur, contracting and then moving with Joan on to their 40-acre farm at Lutton Marsh.

Over the years, Arthur has attended air shows, and made contacts in the world of civilian flying. It was one of these friends who gave Arthur the chance to fly a Piper Warrior III last year. Arthur says: “I hadn’t forgotten a thing. It just felt lovely.”

Children’s play areas across the district have been spruced up in time for summer as part of the successful Pride in South Holland campaign

Play equipment at nine sites has been given a fresh coat of paint to ensure that come the summer holidays, it is looking in top condition.

The newly-painted play areas in Spalding include Goodfellows playing field, Park Close playing field, Thames Road and Fern Park.

Other play areas to be given a new-look include Pennyfields in Pinchbeck, Kingfisher Drive in Surfleet, Casswell Drive in Quadring, Chalk Lane playing field in Sutton Bridge and Railway Lane in Sutton Bridge.

A spokesperson for South Holland District Council said: “The Pride in South Holland campaign has gone from strength to strength since we launched it last summer.

“The play areas are now looking a lot better and we’re sure everyone using them this summer will notice the difference.”

The Pride in South Holland campaign was launched in October last year to clean up eyesore sites across the district.

Already the derelict former Bull and Monkie pub in Spalding has been cleaned-up as was a privately-built play area in Crocus Walk, Spalding, which had been badly damaged by vandals.

Other highlights include the clearing of over 200 tonnes of rubbish and fly-tipped items across the district.

News had reached Holbeach that Pte Arthur Allen, 1st Cambridgeshire Regiment, had been killed in action in France in 1915.

Arthur was formerly an assistant in Mr Curtis’s shop, and was a nephew of Mr and Mrs William Holland of Holbeach.

In the same newspaper it was reported that another Deeping St James soldier, Pte F Adcock, of the Northamptonshire Regiment, had died.

Lance-corporal George Smith, of Kirton, had been awarded the DCM for conspicuous conduct at Neuve Chapelle.

Readers of these newspapers had a first-hand account of life in the trenches for the Spalding Territorials in 1915.

Sgt William Quinton, of Little London, Spalding – one of five brothers serving King and country – was home on special leave when he described life for ‘our Terriers’ as they were affectionately known.

The trenches were described as “quiet” for the first two days – apart from the “shells and bullets constantly flying about”.

Sgt Quinton’s and Sgt Bates’ platoons were holding an advanced line of trenches, only 25 yards away from the enemy.

As a result, little could be done in the day time, except lying low and keeping quiet.

One of the Lincoln Company, tiring of the German bullets splitting open the sand bags and splashing mud around in the lads’ food, “tried to get a smack back at the Germans”.

Sgt Quinton said: “He fired three shots at the opposing trench, and almost immediately a big portion of his head was blown away by a piece of shrapnel.”

On the third day, two Spalding boys – Privates Ashlin and Barlow – were among the casualties when there was an accident among the rifle grenade party.

They were trying to convert hand grenades into rifle grenades, but didn’t know how to do it.

They had put the first hand grenade into the rifle attachment when an officer came up and said he would fire it. Immediately he attempted to do so, it exploded.

Luckily, the Spalding boys were only slightly hurt and were due to return to duty within days.

Spalding’s Territorial Major, Major Barrell, had taken command of the Lincolnshire Territorial Battalion following the death of Colonel Jessop. He was highly regarded for his care of the men.

Three men have appeared in court accused of sex trafficking children in Holbeach St Marks and Holbeach.

The men, all from the London area, appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday), and were sent on bail to appear at Lincoln Crown Court on July 1.

Bilal Amin (31), of Lea Bridge Road, north east London, Sheraz Hussain (31), of Orchid Close, Newham, and Jonpal Sambi (27), of Gorse Close, Hatfield, entered no pleas yesterday.

They are charged with intentionally arranging or facilitating the travel of a young girl with a view to her sexual exploitation at Holbeach St Marks on May 4 2013 and a similar offence – involving a different young girl – at Holbeach on May 6 this year.

Amin is further charged with engaging in sexual activity with a girl of 14 in London between June 14 2012 and December 31 2012 and engaging in a sex act with a girl of 15 at Stratford on May 4 2013.

• Although the case has been sent to Lincoln Crown Court, magistrates heard lawyers for the men are entitled to seek transfer of the cases to a London area crown court.

More than 600 million Samsung mobile devices are vulnerable to a bug within the built-in keyboard, according to a security firm.

The SwiftKey keyboard built into some of Samsung’s recent mobile phones allows an attacker to remotely execute code, according to NowSecure, which uncovered and reported the bug.

“The attack vector for this vulnerability requires an attacker capable of modifying upstream traffic,” NowSecure said in a blog post.

“The vulnerability is triggered automatically (no human interaction) on reboot as well as randomly when the application decides to update.”

The flaw was revealed by NowSecure security expert Ryan Welton at a conference in London in late 2014.

A spokesman for Samsung said they were aware of the issue and would roll out security updates in the next few days.

A former principal officer at Gartree Prison – who survived a horrific four-day incident in which a prisoner destroyed cells and wrote on the walls in his own blood – is organising a mental health awareness walk for others who may be carrying memories they find difficult to cope with.

Mark Le Sage was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the incident in 2005, which culminated in three staff being retired, two put on light duties and one officer committing suicide.

Mr Le Sage, who lives in Spalding, said: “We saved the prisoner’s life, but afterwards it was found we were poorly supported.

“It was assumed that as we were a good unit we could get on and deal with it, but it should have been dealt with as a major incident.

“Eleven out of 12 cells were destroyed. The prisoner banged his head on cell walls and wrote on them in his own blood. When it was over we were covered in his blood, urine and excrement.”

Mr Le Sage, who was medically retired in 2008, said recovering from the incident has been a slow process.

But he said he was pleased to have been able to help change government policy to prevent similar incidents by working with MP John Hayes and the Minister of Prisons.

He went on to work with the Princess Trust until 2009, then trained to be a nurse and is now a paediatric and ENT theatre nurse at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.

He said: “There are many people such as firefighters, police and paramedics who are exposed to incidents they find are hard to cope with. Fitness is a good stress reliever and something I have used to recover from what happened to me. In 2008 I did a round Britain cycle and raised £30,000 for charity. It’s good to get in the gym.

“The health walk is not too far but a way of letting people know, who are struggling with coping or may be recovering from an operation, that there are people they can talk to.”

Held in conjunction with the NHS Walking for Health group, the walk is at Ayscoughfee Gardens in Spalding on Friday, July 3, at 11am. Participants can turn up on the day.

Plans to create a super council covering Peterborough and Lincolnshire could be ready for approval in six months’ time.

The leader of Peterborough City Council, Coun John Holdich, confirmed talks are ongoing with colleagues across the county border to work closer together.

The talks are expected to lead to firm proposals which could see services being shared or even lead to separate councils amalgamating into one large authority.

Confirmation of the talks comes after our sister paper the Lincolnshire Free Press last week revealed Lincolnshire County Council was exploring the possibility of expanding its boundaries in a bid to secure more funding and safeguard frontline services.

With all councils seeing a large squeeze on their funding from the Government, Coun Holdich said the closer working relationship would save money and help share expertise.

Coun Holdich added: “In the next six months we will start to see firm proposals. There could be a formal arrangement or joining together to run services.

“There would need to be an advantage to Peterborough and for it not just to be a nice thing to do. It’s got to give us better services or save us money.”

Once agreed, the new arrangement would need to be sent to the Government for approval.

Coun Holdich said recent talks with Lincolnshire councils had been about extending economic links between the authorities to encourage more development.

Councils in Lincolnshire have also confirmed they are expecting geographical changes to be made in the near future.

The Free Press also revealed last week that Lincolnshire County Council had submitted an interest to the Government in taking charge of services in North East Lincolnshire County Council.

Those services are currently under the control of Humberside County Council but would be ‘transferred’ to Lincolnshire.

Coun Martin Hill, the leader of Lincolnshire County Council, has stressed the authority is exploring all options as it seeks to solve funding issues.

A specific problem for Lincolnshire is that while it covers one of the biggest areas, the population is relatively small.

Joining with other authorities would increase the number of people – a key factor in central Government funding policy.

There is, of course, intense speculation about the future of the region’s district councils – if major changes do go ahead.

New research reveals one in 14 UK adults will not see any daylight on the Summer Solstice, longest day of the year – Sunday, 21 June. This figure rises to more than one in 10 amongst 18-24 year-olds.

The study, commissioned by outdoor travel and adventure brand Kathmandu, reveals that Brits who leave the house on a daily basis will spend on average only 79 minutes outdoors.

Presenter and naturalist Chris Packham​ ​is urging Brits to rediscover the outdoors, even if in a urban environment as he fronts the #GotToBeOutThere campaign​ - watch the video above.​

​Almost half (47%) cite the British weather as the main reason for not being outside enough.

41% blame work commitments for getting in the way; 14% say they can’t afford to whilst one in 10 (10%) believe computers, tablets, game consoles and smartphones steer them clear of outdoor pursuits.

Almost one in three (29%) parents surveyed express concern that their children are not spending enough time in the open air.

Meanwhile, almost one in five (17%) hardy respondents state that nothing prevents them from devoting time to being outdoors.

Walking is by far the most popular outdoor activity (70%) among adult Brits, followed by socialising with family and friends (43%).

Almost one in four (23%) enjoy walking their dog and one in five (20%) like to get active outdoors through sport and exercise.

A further 20% make sure to find the time to embrace nature with pastimes such as bird-watching.

It seems some adults are more adventurous when it comes to spending their leisure time, by pursuing activities like mountain biking (8%), hiking (13%), mountaineering and rock climbing (3%) and water sports including surfing (9%).

A few thrill seekers (4%) indulge in extreme sports such as bungee jumping, zorbing and paragliding whenever they have the chance.

Meanwhile, one in six (16%) are determined to experience the outdoors on their own terms by caravanning and camping.

In addition, Brits say that on average they connect with the great British outdoors four times a year but of those two thirds (66%) will never stray further afield than their local area or region​.

Will you be spending time outdoors this weekend?

Police are asking for any witnesses who witnessed a fight outside a Deeping St James takeaway to get in touch as soon as possible.

The incident was reported to police late in the evening of Saturday May 16, between around 11.30pm to midnight, and involved two men who were reported to have been involved in a fight outside ‘Mr Pizza’ on Bridge Street.

It is believed a number of people in the area and inside the takeaway may have witnessed the disturbance. Investigating officers would like to talk to them to see if they have any information that could assist the enquiry.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Lincolnshire Police on 101 quoting incident 466 of 16/05/2015. Alternatively contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Petrol prices have reached a six-month high with many motorists cutting back on car use, according to the AA.

And the extension of the districts in which drivers get a special rural area fuel rebate has failed to kickstart sales at the pumps in some places, the motoring organisation added.

The average price of petrol nationwide is now 117.19p a litre - up from 116.42p a month ago and above 117p for the first time since mid-December 2014.

Diesel is now averaging 121.0p a litre compared with 120.7p in mid-May.

Since the low point for fuel prices was reached on 1 February this year, average prices have risen by more than 10p a litre.

Compare fuel prices where you live at {http://www.petrolprices.com/|petrolprices.com|go to www.petrolprices.com}.

An AA/Populus survey showed that 37% of the 28,080 AA members polled had already started to cut back on car use, with this figure rising to 48% for lower-income drivers.

The rural fuel rebate scheme, previously only available for those living on some of the UK’s islands, was extended on May 31 to around 125,000 people living in remote mainland locations, with those eligible getting a 5p cut in pump prices.

The AA said today that this had led to a doubling of business at a Devon filling station but that some drivers in Scotland had missed out, apparently due to confusion with the scheme.

AA president Edmund King said: “Our fuel report this month illustrates vividly the power of pump prices on consumer spending.

“It sends out a clear message to government on fuel tax: don’t be mistaken into thinking that because pump prices are 13p-a-litre lower than this time last year that drivers are ripe for another fuel duty increase.”

A Treasury spokeswoman said: “By the end of 2015/16, fuel duty will have been frozen for five years - the longest duty freeze in over two decades. The Government’s action on fuel duty is saving families around £10 every time they fill up their car.

“In addition, the Government’s rural fuel rebate scheme is helping those in the UK’s most rural communities, who face some of the highest fuel prices in the country, to benefit from cheaper fuel.”