Fuel protest falls flat

A threatened mass protest by drivers angry at petrol price increases failed to materialise today.

Fuel protest leaders had urged motorists to stop their vehicles for one minute at 8.30am today.

Motorway drivers, for example, had been asked to pull over on to the hard shoulder to register their protest at the Treasury's 1.28p a litre hike in prices.

But motoring organisations reported a lack of enthusiasm for the protest.
"We have monitored all the motorways and have seen no sign of any protest," said a spokesman for AA Roadwatch.

He went on: "The only sign of cars on hard shoulders was on the west-bound section of the M4 in west London - but that was due to a breakdown."

Earlier, the AA had issued a warning to motorists, pointing out that stopping on motorway hard shoulders was both illegal and dangerous.

The AA Motoring Trust said most motorists would probably not even have known about the protest and added: "We could not, as an organisation, support a protest that will cause serious disruption and prevents people from going about their everyday lives."

The People's Fuel Lobby, which had organised the protest, had claimed it had strong support.

Val Smith, chairman of the Road Haulage Association, was due to deliver a letter of protest to Downing Street today.

The letter stated: "The French government announced last week it was increasing the tax on diesel duty by 2p per litre but exempting professional users.

"They recognise the importance of road transport and the importance of keeping direct operating costs down. Why does our own Government not understand this and offer the same facility?"

Supermarkets have announced they will absorb the fuel duty rise rather than pass the increase on to their customers.