Fuel convoy prepares for final push

Environmental campaigners have staged their own demonstrations

A convoy of protesters from across Britain is preparing for its final push to London and the climax of a campaign for lower fuel taxes.

Police earlier relaxed their plans for an exclusion zone to bar protest lorries from the capital because fewer convoy vehicles than expected appeared to be approaching the city.

But on Monday night one protester claimed the main truck convoy heading to London on the M1 was acting as a decoy, with many more vehicles heading directly to the capital for a mass rally at Hyde Park.

Gateshead-based haulier Craig Eley said as many as 40 other trucks from north east England had either already arrived in the capital or were planning to travel down overnight or early on Tuesday.

Deadline expires

Up to 60 Welsh hauliers have also set off from Cross Hands in west Wales to join the main group of protesters.

The demonstration will come the day after the 60-day deadline for tax concessions, set by protesters after they brought Britain to a standstill in September with oil refinery blockades.

In the Commons MPs debated an extension of emergency powers which allow ministers to control petrol production and supplies.

Police said small groups of demonstrators who had gathered at the Stanlow oil refinery, at Ellesmere Port, and Manchester Fuels Terminal in Trafford Park on Monday later dispersed without disruption.

Protesters travelling in about 30 vehicles, have taken all day to drive from Milton Keynes to the end of the M1.

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Metropolitan police said last week that they would prevent the lorries from entering the capital, but on Monday Scotland Yard indicated that only the city centre would be off-limits.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: "After reviewing the current situation and numbers of vehicles expected we have renegotiated the arrangements.

"But the precise details have still be finalised."

A ban on lorries entering the very heart of the city, round Scotland Yard, and a ban of lorries over 40ft will remain in place.

'Guerrilla garage'

Stephen Alexander, solicitor for the People's Fuel Lobby, said he was pleased with the change of plan.

"This means there will be no checkpoints for lorries, which we are relieved about.

"Since the agreement was reached, protesters have had several calls from other hauliers saying they would join the convoy. People were put off by the language police were using, but that has now relaxed."

Drivers are determined to finish the cross country journey

Final arrangements for protesters to park their vehicles will be worked out with police on Tuesday, depending on the number of vehicles arriving.

In Scotland, fuel campaigners are also planning two convoys which will converge on Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Fishermen change tactics

Meanwhile, fishermen have called off fuel price protests which they were planning for Tuesday in main fishing ports and on the River Thames.

The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations said the government had "demonstrated that it is prepared to listen" and they would be putting their concerns to Agriculture Minister Nick Brown on Thursday.

Environmental campaigners Greenpeace set up a "guerrilla garage" on Monday where they gave away thousands of litres of "bio-diesel" to encourage the public to consider the environmental impact of motoring.

The fuel made from plant oils is said to be cleaner than ordinary petroleum-based fuels.

It is not normally available at forecourts but the pressure group distributed it for free at a disused garage on a busy road in Islington, north London.

"The take up has been amazing," Greenpeace's Blake Lee-Harwood told BBC News Online.

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