Hundreds of angry lorry drivers converged on London today to demand that the Government lower fuel taxes, but plans for the biggest protest yet crumbled in the face of tight policing and a lower-than-expected turnout.

A section of the A40 Westway was closed to allow lorries to park, but police supervision forestalled the travel chaos that many had anticipated. Police accompanied groups of some 20 lorries at a time on a circular route through the capital, including across Westminster Bridge, and ensured that in between brief road closures traffic flowed freely.

Organisers had expected up to 1,000 drivers to attend but in the end only 230 lorries participated in the protest — the hauliers' latest attempt to convey their desperation over rising petrol and diesel costs and fuel duty.

Awaiting the convoys on their arrival at Parliament was a delegation of some 200 hauliers who are backing an amendment to the Budget tabled by the Scottish National Party today that would introduce a fuel tax regulator to relieve the pressure of soaring prices. Waving placards reading “Fair play on fuel” and “Without trucks you get nothing”, the protesters were greeted with beeps of support from passing van drivers.

The hauliers' protest is supported by the Road Haulage Association (RHA), the Transport Association, and the lobby group TransAction 2007. They are calling for a rebate of between 20 and 25p per litre on duty to allow the British haulage industry to compete with companies in European countries where fuel tax is significantly lower.

One of the first to arrive in the capital today was Robin Edmunds, 58, from Devizes, Wiltshire. A haulier for 30 years, Mr Edmunds, who has a fleet of seven lorries, said: “I have never seen times as bad as this. The Government have got to cut the fuel duty. All this is down to Gordon Brown, and he is pulling [the Chancellor] Alistair Darling’s strings.”

Roger King, chief executive of the RHA, said it was unjust that the rail and aviation industries received tax breaks that hauliers did not. “Why are we the only mode of transport taxed as we are?" he asked, calling for an EU-wide commercial users fuel tax that would apply to all transport sectors.

Mr King said he was pleased that the protest had not been disruptive. “There is a feeling among our members that they want to visibly protest. It's better that they do something like that peacefully than they protest illegally with blockades and go-slows”.

Drivers gave warning, however, that frustration could soon spill over into spontaneous, disruptive protests across the country if the Government did not address their concerns. 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.

“This is the worst state the industry has been in in the 40 years that I have been a driver. I’ve just come back from Spain and diesel was just 84p a litre compared with more than 130p a litre here.”

Peter Carroll, spokesman for TransAction and a road haulier, said: “Our industry is being driven out of business. Continental hauliers are able to run in the UK using cheaper fuel from abroad. The Government needs to realise that the surge in oil prices has changed the world. It is madness to insist on charging the highest level of fuel duty in the EU on top of a world price that has rocketed. If nothing is done, thousands of UK hauliers will go bust.”

The “essential user rebate” system is already in use with buses and coaches, which claim a discount of 41p a litre, while lorries pay at full rates. More than 640 MPs have received requests for a meeting from hauliers based in their constituencies and the protesters hope they will be able to express their concerns in person.

Andy Boyle, national chairman of the RHA, said: “I am absolutely delighted that so many sections of the UK transport industry have united in such a positive way. If ever there was positive proof that ours is an industry in crisis then this surely must be it.”

The RHA says that each extra penny on the price of a litre of fuel equates to a further £600 per year per vehicle.

Separately, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has urged the Government to scrap diesel duty increases. The association says that the postponement of the 2p fuel duty increase to October is “not good enough”.

James Hookham, FTA director of policy, said: “We acknowledge that the Government cannot control the world price of oil. But it can re-think its policy on diesel duty. In the present cost environment, the Chancellor would be daft to impose the 2p duty increase, or the other increases planned for April 2009 and April 2010.

In Britain, duty on diesel is 50p per litre compared with the EU average of 25p per litre. Diesel prices in this country have risen by almost 50 per cent over the past year.

The protest today is the second in less than two months. On May 27, hundreds of lorries caused chaos when drivers converged on London in protest against rising fuel costs.

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