Fuel Price Protests Threaten to Bring Traffic in UK to a Standstill, Media Warns

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UK gas station - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.07.2022
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Protests against the rocketing fuel prices at the petrol pumps are reportedly expected to be held in several cities throughout the UK, including Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
Protestors outraged by steep fuel prices in the United Kingdom intend to drive their point home by slowing down traffic severely on major roads in the country on Friday, according to Sky News.
British police reportedly warned that protestors were intending to use the so-called “slow-moving roadblocks”, ie driving deliberately slowly, to create delays on parts of the M4, M5, M32 motorways and the A38, better known as the Devon Expressway.
A veritable “convoy of vehicles” is expected to travel north along the M5 between Bridgwater in Somerset and the Almondsbury Interchange in South Gloucestershire, and then east along the M4 and to Junction 1 of the M32, to leave the road and stop “for a period of time” before heading along the same route in reverse, the media outlet notes.
At the same time, another group of vehicles is expected to block a Shell petrol station in Bristol Road, Bridgwater.
A Facebook* group called “Fuel Price Stand Against Tax” also posted a suggestion that protestors would be assembling “nationwide”, the media outlet claims, including in cities such as Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
A woman carrying a reusable shopping bag crosses the Regent Street shopping district, in London, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.07.2022
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This protest comes as some 18.8 million leisure trips are planned in the country over this weekend, the media outlet notes.
The price of gasoline and diesel in the UK witnessed a sharp rise after the British government in March announced its intention to ban oil imports from Russia because of Moscow’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
According to analysis by the Royal Automobile Club cited by Sky News, only 4 percent of the fuel forecourts in the country charge less than 180p a litre for petrol.
And although the average price at which retailers buy petrol dropped by 17p per litre since the start of last month, prices at the pump decreased by only 4p, the media outlet adds.
Though the RAC reportedly believes that drivers should pay 174p a litre of petrol and 189p for diesel, the average cost of a litre of petrol and a litre of diesel was 187.5p and 196.1p respectively.
*Facebook is banned in Russia over extremist activities
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