Kent business chiefs broadly welcomed the measures announced by George Osborne yesterday, but echoed his warning of frosty times ahead.

While the Chancellor, without mentioning Kent by name, put the county in the frame for huge potential infrastructure projects - a hub airport and third Thames Crossing - he offered few crumbs of comfort to beleaguered business.

Nick Paterno, managing partner of accounting firm McBrides, warned that growth forecasts well down on previous estimates (0.9% this year compared with 2.3% and 0.7% next year against 2.5%) would mean another year of "battening down the hatches."

With the exception of the construction industry, where major new infrastructure projects would boost jobs, Mr Paterno said the economy was facing another lengthy period of "flat-lining."

"There were a few crumbs of comfort in there – but not very many and the ones that there are will be hard to swallow in amongst the current plateful of doom and gloom."

Despite the restriction on rail fare hikes to 1% above the RPI, and cancellation of January's 3p fuel duty rise, commuters and businesses still faced higher travel costs next year, warned Mr Paterno.

The Freight Transport Association in Tunbridge Wells said cancelling the fuel duty hike was a lifeline to operators facing an extra £325m on their annual fuel bill, but called for the 3p increase in August to be scrapped as well.

Roger House, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses for Kent and Medway, said the Chancellor's package addressed many concerns of small business: "The key now is for the Government to be consistent and set to the task of translating these policy intentions into tangible actions on the ground."

Martin Varley, a partner with Thomson Snell and Passmore, Tunbridge Wells, said credit easing would add inflationary pressures on wages but stimulating the economy was essential to avoid "a catastrophic fall off in demand."