Chancellor Alistair Darling turned the screw on the better off as he gave a helping hand to first-time buyers.

In his last Budget before the General Election he announced the threshold for stamp duty on home buying would double from £125,000 to £250,000 from midnight.

But to cheers from Labour MPs he also announced that the move would be funded through an increase in stamp duty to 5% for residential property over £1 million from April next year.

There was further bad news for higher earners - already facing a 50% tax rate on earnings over £150,000 - when Mr Darling announced the end of some personal allowances.

He said that for people with incomes over £100,000 a year - the top 2% - the value of their personal allowances would gradually be removed.

Mr darling announced that the inheritance tax threshold will be frozen for a further four years to help pay for the cost of care for older people.

The Chancellor took pity on motorists by introducing his 3p-a-litre fuel rise, planned for April 1, in three stages.

With prices at the pumps already approaching record levels, he said he wanted to "ease the pressure on family incomes".

He decided that the rise would be 1p in April, with a further 1p rise in October and the final 0.76p increase coming in January 2011.

He also said he would provide £100 million to pay for vital repairs to local roads throughout the country following the recent bad weather and £285 million to pay for improvements on motorways.

The Chancellor has increased duty on cider by 10%, with effect from midnight on Sunday. The rise comes ahead of further changes in September to the definition of cider to ensure specific strong ciders are taxed more appropriately.

Duty on beer, wine and spirits is to rise from midnight on Sunday with alcohol duties rising by 2% above inflation for two years from 2013.

Tobacco duty will increase from today by 1% above inflation and then increase by 2% in real terms each year until 2014.

Other measures announced included:

* From next month, the annual ISA limit will rise from £7,200 to £10,200 and ISA limits will increase annually in line with inflation.

* Parents of one- and two-year-old children will be helped by increasing by £4 a week money paid through Child Tax Credit from 2012.

* The pensioners' higher Winter Fuel Payment of £250, and £400 for the over-80s, will be guaranteed for another year.