PROTESTERS are planning two days of disruption this week to blockade roads, oil refineries and petrol depots unless the government gives in to their demand to cut fuel duty.

Prices have risen to record levels of more than £1 a litre in some parts of the country. About three-quarters of the price of a litre consists of fuel duty and Vat.

The Fuel Lobby, the group which organised the protests that brought Britain to a near-standstill in autumn 2000, says it plans large-scale protests across the country. It wants to prevent supplies reaching petrol stations from 6am on Wednesday.

A separate group plans to use lorries to block the M4 motorway, which stretches from London to south Wales, on Friday. Its members will also picket oil refineries in Pembrokeshire.

Gordon Brown, the chancellor, yesterday played down prospects of government moves to cut the price of fuel for motorists, instead telling a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Manchester that high oil prices required worldwide solutions.

“We urge oil-producing countries and companies and consumers to recognise their common interest in ensuring sufficient supplies of oil,” said Brown.

The government warned police last week to be prepared for disruption. Ministers have drawn up emergency plans to counter the impact, including the rationing of supplies, limiting the hours during which petrol can be sold and reserving some filling stations for priority users.

Andrew Spence, a farmer from County Durham and one of the founders of the Fuel Lobby, said the EU meeting should have agreed fuel tax cuts to ease the burden on motorists.

He added that lorry drivers in France and Spain had told him they would hold protests in sympathy with actions in Britain.

Spence said cuts in fuel duty would make “common sense” by producing immediate reductions in the cost at pumps.

The average price of unleaded petrol has increased from around 80p a litre 12 months ago to about 97p a litre today. The highest price so far reported is £1.19 a litre in London.

The latest jump in prices has been caused in part by the impact on refineries of Hurricane Katrina. Other factors include rapid economic growth in China spurring demand.

The Treasury said last night that cutting tax on vehicle fuel would not solve the problems caused by high oil prices: “There is little or no duty on fuel used in industry, heating of homes and workplaces and rail and bus transport — so seeking to address the problem through road fuel duty alone would do nothing for these consumers.”

Last week ministers discussed a response to threatened shortages caused by blockades. A document, Downstream Oil Resilience, suggested that motorists could be restricted in the amount of fuel they could buy while other measures, enshrined in the Energy Act of 1976, could include the setting aside of designated filling stations for the exclusive use of priority users.

The week-long blockade five years ago — Tony Blair’s most serious domestic crisis until the July 7 bombings — closed more than 1,000 petrol stations across the country and is estimated to have cost British business more than £1bn.

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