A plan by drivers angry at the rising cost of petrol and diesel to blockade the M4 and M48 Severn Bridges has met a mixed reaction among Bristol Live readers.
The protest is one of several planned across the country as fuel approaches - and has passed in some places - £2 a litre on the forecourts. Drivers on a Facebook group with tens of thousands of members have organised a protest on July 4 which would see both the M48 Severn Bridge and the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge blockaded by angry motorists, bringing the main connection between Bristol and South Wales to a standstill.
Organiser Ashley Fowler told Wales Online: “We’re all car enthusiasts and we have all been worried about fuel prices and when I saw the post about blocking the bridges we began talking about it. Then people started asking me to make an event so we could update each other.
Read more: Fuel price protesters 'plan to blockade' both Severn Bridges
“I made the event because I run a car club in Cardiff which I started on social media during the pandemic lockdowns to help people’s mental health. When we can we go out to car parks and just meet up and have a chat but during the pandemic we weren’t able to do it so I made the group.
“Now we can’t meet up so much again because of the cost of fuel. I know some of them can’t drive so much because they need to feed their kids. It’s serious. People are getting really depressed about it.
"One of the boys in the group has actually sold his car due to fuel price rises.” He said his group’s plans aren’t set in stone and he is not certain the protests will go ahead.
But they currently expect to block the bridges from 7am until 7pm on July 4. “It’s gone crazy – I’ve had messages from so many people and all sorts of companies,” he said.
However, the plan is getting a mixed reception from people - both in the group itself, and among Bristol Live readers, as Highways England bosses at the Government's motorway agency, said they are preparing for a response if the protest does take place.
Many were in support of the idea of the protest, saying something needed to be done.
"It is about time that people speak up and demonstrate their dissatisfaction to the policies and measures that are being imposed on them," said Evangelos Vekris on Bristol Live's Facebook page. And Benny Hall agreed: "I am told that it worked for the poll tax, if enough people say no to these crazy hikes in living costs then something will have to change. Feels like the last squeeze of our pockets by the corps/billionaires imo."
And Sabina Kenny said the spiralling cost of fuel was affecting her. "I’d happily join them! This country has been a joke for years and years, I had to give up my home care job because it was costing me £70 alone to go to work, basically, I was paying to work, but I can’t see the government are going to care
Andy Gainey agreed with the protest idea. "About time," he said. "All the other stupid protests we’ve had. Finally something worthwhile. Although maybe blockade Avonmouth where all the tankers actually come out of?? Affect the oil companies directly. Rather than everyone else. Daniel Shillinglaw said people had themselves to blame for the fuel price rises. "We are treated like idiots in this country .. but the country literally cotes for these people every election you could say we deserve these fuel prices for being so thick," he said.
Oli Barton also agreed and said: "It’ll be interesting to see the police response to this, whether there is suddenly more patrols over the bridges to catch protesters early and keep it moving and whether any arrests are made under the new and scandalous anti-protesting bill."
But many on the Bristol Live Facebook page pointed out the same people who are now calling for a blockade of the motorway to protest at the cost of fuel were calling for severe punishments for the protesters who blockaded the M25 last year and earlier this year, in protest at fuel creating the climate crisis.
Keri Sheppard pointed out: "I wonder how many of those who agree with this, didn't agree to other protests that cause road and bridge blocks, that wasn't about the price of petrol. I'm just interested to know the percentage of hypocrisy."
And Kieran Johnson said: "People wanted protests banned last year and now everybody is for them."
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