Drivers Warned Of '12 Hours Of Delays' Because Of Fuel Protests

UK drivers have been warned they face up to 12 hours of delays on the roads today amid protests against rising fuel prices.

Demonstrations against the high price of petrol have slowed down traffic on major roads in England, Scotland and Wales.

Rather than outright blocking many of the roads and potentially getting scooped up by the police, the protesters have come up with the ingenious plan of driving really, really slowly.

Convoys of cars driving at 30mph have been slowing traffic down to a crawl, though some people have been arrested for driving at speeds below this limit.

The M4 is one of the roads most affected by the protests, with demonstrations beginning at 7am this morning and due to last until 7pm in the evening.

Other roads hit by the protests include the M5 in Devon, the M32, the A38, the M180 in Lincolnshire, the A12 in Essex, the A92 in Scotland and the A64 near York.

The protests are mostly being coordinated by campaign group Fuel Price Stand Against Tax, who want the cost of fuel to come down through the government lowering the tax on fuel.

The cost of fuel is rising day by day, and drivers are being hit hard as they get squeezed by rising costs on one side and a cost of living crisis on the other.

Motorists were warned last month that the cost of fuel is rising to an all time high and petrol at the pump will soon set drivers back more than £2 a litre.

As of Sunday (3 July), the average price at the pump for a litre of petrol is currently 191.5p and 199p for diesel, though in certain parts of the country some petrol station prices are even higher.

The BBC reports the protesters are mainly targeting three lane motorways by driving very slowly across two lanes and leaving the fast lane free.

Police have arrested several drivers taking part in the protest for going even slower than the agreed upon 30mph pace, with Gwent Police confirming that 12 motorists were arrested for driving at speeds under 30mph for too long.

The Prince of Wales bridge between England and Wales was closed due to the protests (it has since been reopened), while other major roads throughout Britain have seen protests and disruptions throughout the day.

Superintendent Adrian Leisk, of Devon and Cornwall Police, also confirmed that a man his 50s had been arrested following reports of unsafe driving on the A38 near Ivybridge.

Tom Harding, Chief Superintendent of Gwent Police, encouraged drivers to 'reconsider their journey, consider working from home and avoid the area where possible'.

As for efforts to bring down the cost of fuel, AA president Edmund King called prices drivers are having to pay at the petrol station 'pump fiction'.

King has said the wholesale price of petrol is now about 5p a litre lower than the peak it hit last month, but this drop in costs hasn't been passed on to customers.

While rising wholesale costs of fuel have either dipped since reaching a peak or levelled off, King also called on the government to do more to lower the cost of petrol at the pump.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he will 'consider' further cuts to fuel duty to bring down the cost of fuel for the public.

Meanwhile, anyone wanting to stick to a budget at the petrol pump could do with learning a trick one woman recently discovered.

She found out that some petrol pumps came with built in limiters which let you set the amount you paid before filling up the tank, meaning you never spend more than you wanted to.

For now though, it looks like there will be hours more of disruption to come on major roads thanks to the protests.