Drivers chase petrol tankers as demos start in Sweden

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Drivers chase petrol tankers as demos start in Sweden

Cars queue for petrol at a Shell service station in Britain [AFP/Adrian Dennis/File ] LONDON (AFP) - - As British drivers chased fuel trucks in the hope of getting their tanks filled, protests over high petrol taxes moved from Europe's roads to service stations and Swedish ports. Roughly one-quarter of Britain's pumps were operating early in the day, and those were taken by storm, with police called in to keep order among drivers determined to fill their tanks.

"The trouble is, as soon as deliveries are made, the stations run dry again," said a spokesman for the Shell oil company.

"The tankers are being followed for miles by queues of motorists desperate to see where the fuel is being delivered."

Doctors, ambulances, police and fire brigades were given priority at the pumps.

In Sweden, dozens of angry truck drivers disrupted traffic at the Helsingborg ferry terminal to protest high diesel prices.

Scores of other lorries were en route for Malmo aiming to disrupt ferry traffic between Sweden and Germany.

In Helsingborg, the protestors had set up a blockade and were allowing through only trucks carrying perishable goods or medicine, as well as private vehicles and tourist buses.

A Swedish hauliers federation said Friday that ferry departures from the ports of Malmo, Trelleborg, Helsingborg and Gothenburg would be badly hit Saturday by the protest, the latest across Europe in a two-week period.

In Germany, Ireland, and Spain, protesting truckers and farmers announced no action over the weekend after Friday's protests.

Norwegian truckers and motorists' lobby groups announced on Friday that their members would blockade five of the country's main oil terminals from Monday in protest at high fuel prices.

The refineries named are in Oslo, Fredrikstad, Toensberg and two in Stavanger.

In London, the government said it was setting up a task force to look into ways of avoiding further disruptions to the country's fuel supplies. Home Secretary Jack Straw will chair the task force.

The move came after six days of crippling blockades at oil depots and refineries staged by farmers and truckers enraged by high fuel prices.

The country was brought almost to a standstill as 90 percent of service stations ran out of fuel.

But there appeared to be no relief in sight for commercial fuel users, as crude oil jumped to 36 dollars a barrel in New York trading before closing at 35.92 dollars.

http://www.voila.co.uk/News/afp/top/000916102722.s89hpv18.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 16, 2000


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