M54 fuel protest planned in as prices soar
A Telford business owner is planning to bring the M54 carriageway at Shifnal Services to a stand-still next month as part of a nationwide protest at soaring fuel prices.
Andy Carloman runs Total Property Care and says in the last two weeks his weekly spend on fuel for one of the four vehicles the company runs has more than doubled from £100 for a full tank to £220.
He has joined a Facebook group called Stand Up to Fuel Prices UK Wide and is planning to stage a rolling road block on the M54 from 8am on Monday July 4 and has already signed up 100 motorists, hauliers and business owners.
The national group has nearly 9,000 followers and calls on cars, lorries and tractors to cause road blocks all over the country in protest at the escalation of prices which reached a new high on Sunday of £1.85 for a litre of unleaded, an increase of 7.1p in just a week. Andy, who employs six workers said: "In common with a lot of people we are calling on the government to cut the fuel tax duty but because it is falling on deaf ears so I am calling on motorists in Shropshire to join with me in more direct action.
"I have owned a haulier business before and worked as a lorry driver and I know how hard it is to do that anyway with the cost of fuel generally, but in recent weeks that cost just for my company has doubled - I dread to think what they are for larger concerns.
"It is hard for comapnies, particularly small ones to pass the costs of the fuel increases onto the customers so I think it is time to make our feelings known with direct action, which is part of a nationwide protest.
"I have been in touch with business owners nationwide and they are all having the same problems - I know protests are planned on the A12 in Essex, the M25 and nationwide including in Manchester and Durham.
"Everything will be done peacefully and we are going to notify the authorities about the protest, at the moment we have over 100 vehicles signed up and that is a mixture of lorries, vans, other commercial vehicles and car owners.
It comes after calls from the AA to see petrol prices 'grind to a halt' by the end of the week due to a drop in wholesale prices since the start of the month.
Spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “If they continue to go up substantially afterwards, we will be intrigued to hear what excuses the fuel trade has this time.
