LONDON Half-hearted protests by hailers and farmers at the cost of fuel were staged across Britain on Friday as Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) Gordon Brown fired a warning shot across the bows of the oil companies over petrol prices.

According to an AFP report, about 30 protestors picketed the Manchester fuels terminal in northwest England for three hours but police said fuel deliveries were completed as normal.

Handfuls of protestors also picketed the Shell depot at Jarrow, northeast England, the Total fuel distribution depot in Leeds, north England, and the Esso terminal at Fawley, south England.

A demonstration at Avonmouth, Bristol, southwest England, persuaded one Texaco tanker driver to return to his depot.

Brown warned the oil giants he was closely monitoring forecourt prices following big falls in the cost of crude oil.

There was some evidence of movement as supermarket giant Sainsbury's, which also runs petrol stations, announced its diesel price would drop by 1p from midnight to 81.9 pence (122.85 cents, 1.28 euros) a liter, and BP Amoco said its prices would fall 1 penny for unleaded to 76.5p and 2 pence for diesel to 81.5 pence by the end of the weekend.

Protest blockades at fuel depots across Britain caused chaos in September, causing supplies at petrol stations to dry up and prompting the government to partially accede to demonstrators' demands for lower fuel taxes.