Drivers queued for hours for a drop of petrol at the height of the fuel protests (Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
The new millennium was not all celebration – it saw one of the worst fuel shortages that brought the UK to its knees.
The year 2000 was in full swing when the country was embroiled in a tense fuel crisis that saw petrol pumps running dry and empty supermarket shelves.
It came after angry truckers and farmers decided to take action that would not go unnoticed in cities and towns.
The week of disruption became known as the fuel protests as those relying on petrol for their livelihoods protested high prices.
Lorry drivers block Park Lane, central London, during a protest drive on September 13, 2000 (Picture: Colin Davey/Getty Images)
How did the fuel protest escalate? And could it happen again?
For some, the fuel protests may have come as a surprise, but discontent over fuel duty had been brewing among British farmers and hauliers.
It reached a boiling point in September 2000, leading to a campaign of direct action that other activists could only watch in envy.
They demanded a cut in the fuel duty rate on petrol and diesel which Tony Blair’s government refused to enact – until the protesters cranked up the pressure.
Queues at a petrol station in Newcastle on September 19, 2000(Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA)
The fuel protests kicked off at Stanlow in Cheshire as protesters blockaded petrol refineries after anger over fuel costs among livestock farmers in particular.
From the start, the protesters agreed that the emergency services would still get fuel and protesters would be non-violent.
Within days, the demonstrations spread to Pembroke oil refinery, Hemel Hempstead oil terminal and Gateshead.
Convoys of lorries and tractors caused huge tailbacks and monster queues of traffic on roads as part of the protest, including in central London.
Protesters applauded a petrol tanker driver leaving the Avonmouth Docks, Bristol, on September 13, 2000 (Picture: Barry Batchelor/PA)
During the height of the protest, supermarket shelves were empty as the protesters blocked oil facilities, stopping supply to petrol stations.
To make things worse, panic buying took hold of motorists. A week’s worth of fuel was sold in just three days.
And if you drove past a petrol station in mid-September 2000, long queues to the pumps were a familiar sight.
A mum pushed a pram through a blockade of lorries on Park Lane, central London on September 13, 2000 (Picture: Gerry Penny/AFP via Getty Images)
By September 12, around 3,000 petrol stations out of 13,500 were dry, MailOnline reported.
And the protest succeeded – less than a month later, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced a freeze on the fuel duty and cut on the vehicle excise duty.
One animal rights activist commented on the protests in its aftermath, asking in awe how the hauliers managed to get the cooperation of the ‘powerful’ oil industry and the police before virtually bringing ‘the nation to a standstill in a matter of days’ without getting ‘arrested …read more
Source:: Metro
