A 2p increase in duty on petrol and diesel could spark direct action, as Nicola Fifield reports.

A LOOMING rise in fuel tax has sparked a wave of protests from angry lorry drivers, who claim the Government could do more to protect them.

A convoy of trucks yesterday closed the A40 into London, as hauliers parked up and went to join a rally in the city before petitioning 10 Downing Street.

In Wales, a two-mile line of lorries crawled along the M4 towards Cardiff. Meanwhile, hauliers in York and North Yorkshire have threatened to bring the county to its knees by downing their tools and emptying the shelves at shops across the region.

They say diesel prices topping £1.20 a litre, plus a planned two pence fuel tax rise in October, will drive firms out of business.

Margaret Edmunds, Yorkshire area manager for the Road Haulage Association, said dozens of road haulage companies in the county were already on the verge of collapse. A typical articulated truck that cost £35,000 a year to fuel 12 months ago now costs £49,000 a year to fuel.

She said the Government had already made a huge windfall from soaring fuel prices and did not need to increase fuel tax. "How dare they suggest putting another two pence on fuel tax when they have received at least a £4 billion windfall from the VAT they have collected since the price of oil started to climb?" she said.

"There are dozens of road haulage companies in North Yorkshire that are really struggling at the moment and this is a direct result of the fuel increases.

"The Government needs to be putting in some extra measures to help the industry, not increasing the tax." She called for a tax rebate for hauliers who delivered essential goods to the shops and measures to make sure foreign hauliers did not have an unfair advantage over British hauliers.

She said: "Foreign hauliers come with extra tanks of fuel so they don't have to pay for it while they're here, and then once they've delivered their goods, they will spend another four to five days here doing the work that our men should be doing because they can offer a cheaper rate than we can.

"It makes us very bitter, and we want them to pay for the privilege of delivering goods in this country just like we have to."

But Hugh Bayley, Labour MP for City of York, said the protests were unnecessary. He said: "I understand why road hauliers are up in arms, but I think they are protesting a bit early.

"The Government has already deferred the two pence rise from April and it has made it very clear it is considering whether or not to go ahead with it in October."

He also said it would be very difficult to introduce an essential user tax rebate due to the risk of creating an illegal black market in no duty fuel.

City of York Green councillor Andy D'Agorne said he welcomed Government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. But the soaring fuel prices had already helped to reduce the number of car journeys, and increasing the rate of fuel tax would not make a difference.

He said: "Compared to the price of fuel at the moment, another two pence is neither here nor there.

"But if that money is going to go towards improving public transport, then I support it.

"I would much rather money was raised by putting a two pence rise on fuel tax than on something like income tax."