High levels of fuel duty are cited as a problem

Professor Mark Shucksmith of Aberdeen University, the report's author and a senior member of the Rowntree Foundation, said: "Viewed through a car window or a television screen it is easy to see the countryside as idyllic and changeless.

"But the reality is rapid and uneven change, including economic and social pressures that create growing social exclusion for people on low incomes.

"Transport was a problem that all 10 research studies identified as a major barrier to social inclusion in rural areas."

He added: "There is a fundamental contradiction at the heart of government thinking when fuel taxation and other policies designed to reduce car use and ownership serve to exacerbate rural exclusion and intensify barriers to employment. Fresh ideas are clearly required."

The report says fuel duty should be reinvested

The foundation says that without a job people cannot afford to buy a car and run it, but without a car they cannot take jobs that involve long daily journeys.

It believes government money should be used to help meet those costs.

It also suggests that young people should be assisted with the cost of sitting driving tests.

The report further suggests fuel duties collected in the countryside could be used to subsidise public transport or help maintain village shops and schools.

The Scottish Executive has pointed out the government's New Deal initiative already offers a range of allowances to jobseekers.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is the UK's largest independent social policy research and development charity.

It supports a wide programme of projects connected with housing, social care and social policy.