Your stories: Increasing fuel costs

As a disabled person, the rise in the price of petrol is crippling me (no pun intended). I have a spinal injury and walking even a few hundred yards just isn't an option.

I don't drive a huge gas-guzzler, just a 1.6 Seat, but I have to leave it on the drive except for essential journeys once or twice a week. I am now effectively housebound most of the time.

I began to really notice the increase after Christmas. The prices just started to rise and they haven't stopped.

I have a carer, who now has to charge me more as it costs her more in petrol to get to me.

This has had a huge impact on my life. Not being able to afford to put petrol in my car means I no longer see my family. My mum is quite elderly and also housebound, my grandchildren don't live that far away but their mum doesn't drive and they are too young to walk all the way to my house.

My only trip out is once a week to the shops to buy food, and then when I get there I find the prices of essentials such as milk and bread has gone up again.

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I'm on a very limited income which has not risen to cover these rising prices.

I am hoping the government drops the fuel duty for essential users. Gordon Brown has to start helping those who can't help themselves.

I'm a director of a small business of about 20 engineers and salesmen. We install wireless technology in other companies, hospitals and schools.

We have clients all across the country from Scotland to Cornwall, which means our engineers can end up travelling all over the country visiting clients. On average I would say each engineer could travel up to 3000 miles a month.

These are journeys we have to make as the work we do isn't the type of work where we can send out the kit in a box, we have to be there to install it and provide that service.

In the past six months I have noticed a significant increase in costs, before then the increases were manageable, but now fuel prices are going up every week.

We can't pass these costs on to our customers, it's not their fault that the fuel price has increased, and it just isn't competitive to increase our costs.

We are already selling at such a low margin in a very competitive field, any further decrease in profits would mean we would have to stop taking on work and that would mean less work for our engineers. We have already taken the decision not to take on a new engineer.

My business isn't the only thing that is suffering, my family is too. We no longer go out as a family, we stay in.

The whole country is going to be affected by this, people just won't be going out visiting tourist sites, motor sport will suffer. We'll all have to go through a major cultural change.

I've been a driving instructor for just over a year now, and with these rising fuel prices I'm just not sure if I can carry on.

My husband has been an instructor for the same amount of time and between us we are now spending around �800 to �900 a month on fuel, it's a hefty chunk of money to be spending each month.

We teach through a franchise and the cost of a lesson is currently between �22 and �25 an hour. The price of a lesson hasn't gone up yet, but for us to keep working I think it needs to.

It has got to the stage now that every time I pass a petrol station my stomach turns over. I'm just not sure how we are going to carry on.

If I can't afford to do my job will I get a council house because I can't afford to pay my mortgage? Will I get benefits? I think not.

Even when I think about going to visit my brother in Durham I have to think twice because of the fuel costs.

You're just not allowed to live in this country or enjoy life, every day you just have to struggle to survive.