Protesters blockade Stanlow refinery

May 2 2008 by Dan Owen, Liverpool Daily Post

FUEL protesters angry at recent hikes in costs blockaded the Stanlow refinery at Ellesmere Port last night.

Up to 70 vehicles arrived at the plant at 8.30pm, stopping tankers from accessing the site.

Around 20 tankers were backed up, unable to move through the barricade of vehicles.

It was not thought the blockades would last for long, but further action was not being ruled out.

Protester Tom Haughton said: “There are over 100 hauliers and farmers who have blocked the road on foot.

“I think we’ve got 40 or 50 tankers blocked out. There are 300 to come in tonight, so they tell us.”

Agricultural contractor Ieuan Hughes heard about the strikes from a colleague in the industry and went with his brother, Gareth, and two others from Valley-based TJ Hughes and Son.

“We are here about the costs of fuel. It is crippling the industry. The whole country is affected by this. At the moment, we are having to pay 60p for a litre of fuel and they are saying by September that figure could be up to 80p.

“We are a family business employing nine lads and if that were the case it could force us out.

“But it is not just us this is affecting the whole country.

“We just want someone to come down here and talk to us.”

A protest by farmers and hauliers in 2000 sparked a series of events that brought chaos to the UK.