PROTESTERS have caused delays on busy Scottish roads as they demonstrate over skyrocketing fuel prices.
Two tractors driving side-by-side caused long queues on the A92 heading north into Aberdeen on Monday.
Activists also targeted the Kessock Bridge in Inverness.
The demonstrations are part of a UK-wide protest organised via social media under the banner Fuel Price Stand Against Tax.
These are the tractors which have been holding up traffic heading into Aberdeen on the A92 this morning as part of fuel price protests across the UK. pic.twitter.com/e7GLIAopy4
— Northsound News (@northsoundnews) July 4, 2022
South of the Border, campaigners focused on a stretch of motorway between Bristol and South Wales, including the Prince of Wales Severn bridge crossing, as part of action calling for a cut in fuel duty.
It comes as figures from Experian show the average price of petrol reached a new high of 191.5p per litre on Sunday. The average price of diesel was 199.0p per litre.
Among those gathering at Magor services, near Caldicot, was Vicky Stamper, 41. The former HGV driver, from Cwmbran, said she and her partner Darren had to leave jobs in Bristol because they could not afford the fuel any longer.
She said: “We had to leave those jobs because it was costing us £380 a week just to get to and from work “I then lost a job two weeks ago because the company couldn’t afford to put fuel in that many lorries so last in, first out.”
Asked what she would ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to do, Stamper said: “Resign.”
A large convoy of protesters drove over the Severn crossing heading into England from Wales with a large backlog of traffic following behind.
Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Police said a “small group” of motorists had gathered in the vicinity of Ferrybridge services but were not causing any disruption so far.
The AA claimed petrol wholesale costs ended last week 10p down on the record highs of early June.
The organisation’s fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “It is an outrage, plain and simple, that the fuel trade could be slashing petrol prices as the nation heads towards the holiday season, but isn’t.”
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said it is time for the Government to “take action” and cut fuel duty again or reduce VAT to help “hard-pressed drivers and businesses”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he will carefully consider calls for a “more substantial” fuel duty decrease after the 5p per litre reduction implemented in March failed to halt price rises.
The Government said that while it understands people are struggling with rising prices and have a right to protest, “people’s day-to-day lives should not be disrupted” and warned that traffic delays “will only add to fuel use”.
A spokesman commented: “While we respect the right to protest, people’s day-to-day lives should not be disrupted, especially on busy motorways where lives are put at risk and resulting traffic delays will only add to fuel use.
“The new Public Order Bill will make it a criminal offence to glue yourself to a dangerous motorway, which sees police spending hours trying to safely remove people.”
