Fuel protest worthwhile

Jul 3 2008 Evening Gazette

THE boss of a top Tees Valley trucking company said she was upbeat after the massive fuel protest by hauliers in central London.

Anne Preston, chairman of Prestons of Potto, near Swainby, said that while the industry expected fuel costs to stay “at an almighty high” for the foreseeable future, the hauliers were impressed by the level of support they received yesterday from the public and their MPs, whom many truckers lobbied at Westminster. She said she believed that the protest had been worthwhile.

“All we can do is keep chipping away and getting small concessions,” Mrs Preston said, adding that she was fairly confident that the Government would scrap the 2p/litre rise in duty planned for October.

“We hauliers on Teesside are a resilient lot,” she said. “We’re never going to let it drop.”

However, although she was at the protest for most of yesterday, she was unaware of calls by several lorry drivers for wildcat action unless Government policy changed.

“It was a very peaceful protest.”