Motorists plan to stage further fuel price protests on Friday with disruption expected in Cardiff as well as on the M4 and key roads around southwest England. Avon and Somerset Police warned motorists that “slow-moving roadblocks” are planned on parts of the M4, M5, M32 and A38.
An image posted on the Facebook group Fuel Price Stand Against Tax suggests demonstrations will be held “nationwide” including in Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, London, and Manchester. Superintendent Tony Blatchford of Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our protest liaison team has been engaging with the organiser so we can inform the public of the likely disruption and help to minimise it.
“Nevertheless drivers can expect journey times will likely be longer than normal, especially on motorways, which often tend to be at their busiest at this time of year. We advise motorists to consider any alternative travel plans available and ensure they are suitably prepared in case they are delayed.”
Read more: The painful reality of what exorbitant fuel prices mean for people in Wales
Fuel price protests on July 4 led to 12 people being arrested on the M4. The first stage of Friday’s action in the south west will see vehicles travel north on the M5 between Bridgwater and the Almondsbury Interchange from around 8.45am then east along the M4 and to junction one of the M32.
The convoy is expected to leave the motorway and stop “for a period of time” before completing the same route in reverse and arriving back in Bridgwater “in the early afternoon”, police said. A second group of protesters are planning to drive slowly to the Shell petrol station in Bristol Road, Gloucester. “They are expected to block the forecourt during the morning,” according to police.
It comes at the start of a weekend that is expected to be the busiest summer getaway in at least eight years. The RAC said an estimated 18.8m leisure trips are planned in the UK between Friday and Monday. That is the most since the company began tracking summer getaway numbers in 2014.
Leisure traffic volumes look set to peak on Saturday, a survey of 1,700 UK motorists suggested. Transport analytics company Inrix believes the M25 could see some of the worst jams while the A303 near Stonehenge, Wiltshire, the M4 between Cardiff and Newport, and the M5 south of Bristol are also likely to see queuing traffic at various points this weekend.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “With school terms in England and Wales finishing this week and millions of people ready for a well-earned break we anticipate a frantic Friday followed by a woeful weekend on major roads across the country with traffic and congestion likely peaking on Saturday. The advice to drivers heading off on a holiday by car is therefore clear – leave as early as you can in the morning or expect to be sat in some lengthy queues.”
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