A PROTESTING pensioner rallying against soaring fuel prices said he played a part in slowing traffic to a crawl along the A12, causing “ten miles” of tailbacks.
A six-strong group of motorists joined the major road at Colchester’s JobServe Community Stadium at 7am.
Slowing to 20mph, the group brought traffic to a crawl as they staged their protest flanked by a police escort.
Ian Drew, 72, from Black Notley, is a member of the Essex/Suffolk Fuel Price Protest group which has now staged two A12 “rolling roadblocks”.
He said the latest protest attracted abuse from motorcyclists trying to overtake the group.
"You get people against us, you're always going to get that," he said.
"The people who moan about us also moan about the fuel crisis but won't stand up and be counted. Do something about it.
"We're trying to make our point."
Mr Drew said the group is "in no way associated with Extinction Rebellion".
"We're also not associated with Just Stop Oil," he said. "We want the oil.
"It is about the price of fuel and trying to make a nuisance of ourselves. Maybe the Government will take notice."
The protestor said another ‘slow down’ protest will be held on the A12 at Colchester on July 22 at 7am.
He said the group effectively had “a police escort” during Monday’s protest.
“During last week’s protest we were in both lanes – and in three lanes when the road widened to three,” he said.
“This time we discussed it with a couple of the police officers at the stadium, who said they were there to facilitate our protest.
“When we got on the road we were in two lanes, before some aggressive motorbike riders started swearing at us and getting us out of the overtake lane.”
Superintendent Richard Melton said: “We understand that people have the right to peacefully protest, but we will not allow anyone to impact the livelihoods of others or put other road users at risk.
“Despite this being a time of high traffic, officers have successfully engaged with the drivers of the vehicles and they are causing minimum disruption.”
Mr Drew said the fuel crisis had been "created by the Government".
He added: "They want us off the road one way or another. They want us in electric cars - it's all about control and money."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel