25/04/2005

Fuel protests at Cheshire oil refinery

Campaigners have staged a protest against rising fuel costs at an oil refinery in Cheshire.

The protest, which involved tractors and tankers, began at the Stanlow oil refinery in the early hours of this morning. The refinery was also picketed in the nationwide fuel protests in 2000, during which Britain virtually came to a standstill.

However, today’s protest is not believed to have been on the same scale as the protests five years ago. Cheshire police confirmed that the protestors agreed to park their vehicles on grass at a nearby roundabout. A Shell spokesperson was reported as saying that no disruption had been caused at the refinery.

David Handley for Farmers for Action, who organised the protest, told reporters that the campaigners wanted to highlight the issue of fuel prices ahead of the forthcoming general election. He told reporters that the government had promised to look at the situation relating to fuel and fuel tax years ago, but said that, in 2005, the government “don’t even seem to be having it on the agenda”.

Mr Handley confirmed that he had met with Shell representatives and he urged unions to back the protests.

Concern over fuel prices has been rising. Last week, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) reported that there was “growing anger and unrest” over the cost of fuel among Britain’s haulage fraternity and said that some of them were becoming “increasingly militant”.

RHA’s Chief Executive Roger King said: "We desperately need some kind of fuel stabilisation formula which would result in tax levels on fuel being reduced as world oil prices increase.”

(KMcA/SP)

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