Straw orders police to be more forceful with fuel protesters

Police and army drivers have been put on standby by the Government to break up any future fuel protest and keep petrol tankers on the road. Hundreds of army drivers are receiving emergency training so that they are licensed to drive petrol tankers past picket lines.

Police and army drivers have been put on standby by the Government to break up any future fuel protest and keep petrol tankers on the road. Hundreds of army drivers are receiving emergency training so that they are licensed to drive petrol tankers past picket lines.

The Home Secretary has also instructed the police to intervene more forcefully to break up any future fuel protest. Jack Straw has told police chiefs to take a more assertive stance towards pickets than during last month's protests which brought much of Britain to a halt.

The police have been instructed to escort tanker drivers past pickets and arrest protesters found intimidating and threatening drivers. Police will also ride in the cabs of tankers and arrest demonstrators who break the law.

The emergency plans, drawn up by a task force headed by Mr Straw, have been put in place in time for the expiry of the protesters' 60-day deadline on 13 November.

They have threatened to resume protests at oil refineries unless Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, indicates that he will cut petrol duty in his autumn mini-Budget next week. Action to block Britain's refineries could begin at any time after Mr Brown's pre-Budget report.

The Chancellor is expected to announce measures to help drivers but he is unlikely to signal the across-the-board cut in fuel duty that would be necessary to satisfy the protesters.

The Army, which has 160 soldiers licensed to drive petrol tankers, is training hundreds more to break past the pickets and drive supplies through.

The Ministry of Defence is also stockpiling millions of gallons of fuel to supply the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force in the case of future shortages. The stockpiled military fuel could be used to supply the emergency services, such as hospitals and the police.

Some oil companies have agreed to allow army drivers to use their tankers but the government is ready to use emergency powers, introduced during the last wave of protests, to force the lorries on the road if the deal breaks down.

The Ministry of Defence has put hundreds of army drivers on courses to gain dangerous goods driving certificates required to drive oil tankers. It takes at least three days to gain such a licence and those with the qualification must also be trained in safety procedures and in how to deal with a spill of inflammable material or an emergency.

Christopher MacRae, the training and policy manager for the dangerous goods section at the Freight Transport Association, said: "A certificate is required by law for drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods where the gross weight of the vehicle is more than three and a half tons. The Army is equipped to provide this sort of training. They have their own training set up and are probably one of the biggest approved training centres in the country."