Lorries driving 5mph bring motorway to a standstill in protest over fuel prices

A huge convoy of lorries protesting rising diesel prices has reduced traffic to a crawl around Newcastle.

The caravan of angry motorists are travelling to and from the city centre up the A1 motorway at five miles per hour.

It has been organised by a farmer who led similar protests more than 20 years ago.

Andrew Spence, 54, from Leadgate, County Durham, organised refinery blockades with his Fuel Lobby in the early 2000s and is now calling for a ‘substantial’ reduction in prices.

He called on the government to intervene and push petrol prices down to help families deal with the cost of living crisis.

He told ChronicleLive ‘everybody knows that people are hurting’ and said ‘it’s now up to the government to do something about it’.

Mr Spence said he had received international support for his actions and hinted at further action, saying it was ‘snowballing’ and ‘I hope people take notice and carry it on [from here]’.

He added: ‘If there’s one thing that’s really frightened me with this is that a lot of people twist and moan about direct action of protesting – what’s that going to achieve? Where’s the fight that we used to have? The passion? It just seems to have gone.’

Mr Spence said he had received ‘heartbreaking’ stories from families in rural areas struggling to meet the cost of living.

RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams has called on supermarkets to ‘do the right thing’ and said the current set up is ‘very harsh on drivers’.

Average pump prices for petrol have risen by 3p per litre since the start of the month, reaching 147.27p despite a recent reduction in wholesale costs.

The failure to pass on savings is costing drivers around an extra £3.50 every time they fill up a typical 55-litre family petrol car.

Diesel costs an average of 150.66p per litre, which the RAC believes should come down by 4p.

Mr Williams added: ‘In the last few days the wholesale price of petrol has fallen steeply, which means the biggest retailers are in a great position to cut prices and ease the burden being felt by drivers throughout the UK who are paying £80 for a full 55-litre tank.

‘As the big four supermarkets are responsible for selling 45% of all the country’s fuel, they are constantly buying new supply so they’re able to pass on the savings to customers straightaway – unlike smaller retailers who tend only to buy in fuel once a fortnight.’

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