Protesters' 'wildcat' action threat

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Hundreds of hauliers were led through central London streets by police motorcyclists in a bid to get the Government to act on fuel prices which freight companies say are wrecking their businesses.

Although a section of the busy London-bound A40 Westway road in west London was closed so lorries could park, the protest was a non-disruptive one.

But Kent-based haulier Peter Carroll of the fuel protest group Transaction warned that unless Government policy changed, some drivers could take part in spontaneous and disruptive action.

At a rally for drivers on foot outside the Houses of Parliament, Mr Carroll said: "I fear that if the Government does not listen, they (drivers) might end up doing things that we would not condone but which we would understand."

And Mike Wright, 61, a driver with the Heathrow-based Roy Bowles airfreight transport company, said: "I can see wildcat protests taking place and it will not just be London that is affected. They will block every motorway in the country and then the Government might listen."

For the first time, a protest of this kind was backed by the Road Haulage Association (RHA), whose chief executive Roger King said it was vital that fuel duty for all transport modes were fixed at the same level throughout the EU.

He went on: "If the UK Government does not address this (fuel duty) problem there is going to be precious little of the haulage industry left."

Drivers had travelled from all over the country to line along Westway before being escorted through central London on a route which included Westminster Bridge.

After the on-foot rally, a number of hauliers went into the Houses of Parliament to lobby MPs.