Sales 'unaffected' by petrol boycott

Petrol forecourts could remain empty on Tuesday

Petrol retailers in Northern Ireland have said a boycott of filling stations as part of a national campaign against high fuel prices has had little affect on their sales.

All of Britain's 27m car drivers were urged to take part in a 24-hour boycott of garage forecourts.

The Dump the Pump campaign was organised by Essex website designer Garry Russell, who wanted drivers to boycott pumps on Tuesday and then on every subsequent Monday to keep the high price of fuel in the public eye.

"If we sit back and do nothing then before too long we will have the £5 gallon," he said.

Garry Russell organised the campaign via his website

However, John Harkin who owns a filling station in Londonderry said the Dump the Pump campaign had come too late.

He took the pumps out of his filling station in the city in January because customers were going for the cheaper option in Donegal.

"We can't justify selling petrol here," he said.

"For three years we've been asking for some sort of government help or sign that things are going to change but it's just kept deteriorating further and further."

Chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association in Northern Ireland Thomas Palmer said business had not been affected.

He said while the association was "fully behind" the concept of getting the government to reduce excise duties, he did have some concerns about the campaign.

"What petrol retailers are afraid of is that other shop sales are going to suffer if people boycott the pumps," he added.

Garry Russell believed the campaign was responsible for a spate of price-cutting by supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons with prices dropping below 80p a litre.

BP and Shell also slashed their prices.

But retailers denied the move was an attempt to head off Tuesday's protest.

Motoring groups and environmental organisations expressed reservations about the protest.

'Cynical stunt'

An AA spokesman said: "If the government don't know by now what people feel about prices, they will never know."

Environmental group Friends of the Earth dismissed the protest as a "cynical stunt".

But Mr Russell said the campaign was justified.

"If we paid as much tax on certain items as we do on petrol then a first-class stamp would cost £1.13, a cinema ticket would be nearly £22 and a loaf of bread would be £1.58," he said.

If we sit back and do nothing then before too long we will have the £5 gallon

Garry Russell

Tax makes up more than 76% of the pump price.

Mr Russell organised the protest mainly via the internet and his website www.boycott-the-pumps.com.

It has had nearly 250,000 visitors.

"We have touched a nerve here," Mr Russell told BBC Two's Newsnight programme.

"We are dealing with the motor car, it's an emotive passionate subject. It's our ultimate expression of freedom.

"That's why we are so passionate behind this internet-driven web campaign because the internet gets into people's homes," he said.