LONDON About 90 British farmers and truckers blockaded a Shell oil refinery at Stanlow in northwestern England overnight on Thursday to protest against rising fuel prices.
A Shell spokeswoman said the distribution operation had been brought to a standstill by the wall of tractors and trucks.
"It's on the distribution depot at the moment. We've shut down operations," she told Reuters, adding that the timing of a restart "will be reviewed as time goes on".
Cheshire police said they had been forced to rescue a tanker driver after he had tried to cross the protest line.
"The tanker attempted to mount the pavement and was surrounded by protesters," a police spokeswoman said.
"The police stepped in and helped the driver get out of the cab and removed him to a place of safety." The demonstration at the refinery near Liverpool, which has a capacity of 262,000 barrels per day, mirrored more widespread blockades by French truckers, farmers and taxi drivers.
"We now believe there to be about 90 protesters at the scene with 75 vehicles," the police spokeswoman said.
She said police were talking to the demonstrators, who are members of the group farmers for action.
David Handley, chairman of the group, said the protest could grow into "a winter of unrest" unless the labor government paid attention to its demands for a cut in fuel prices.
"We do not want to do this and we do not do it with a light heart but unfortunately no one seems to listen to us so we have decided to follow our counterparts in France," he told the BBC.
British petrol and diesel prices are the highest in Europe, with tax and duties eating up 75 pence of every pound spent on premium unleaded gasoline.
Prices rocketed by more than 40 percent between January 1999 and June 2000.
(Reuter)