Truckers unite in mass fuel protest

Fuel protesters are set to make their feelings known in London

Lorry drivers from all over the UK have set off for London to take their fuel-price protest to the heart of the capital.

One of the major convoys descending on London headed off from the Medway service station on the M2 in Kent.

"We're on our way and we want to get out message across," said Sharon Knight who was travelling towards London with her husband Peter, a Kent-based haulier.

The Knights and hundreds of other haulage companies will park on a specially closed-off section of the A40 Westway in west London.

Then police motorcyclists will escort small convoys into central London, with the protesters crossing Westminster Bridge.

In addition, a delegation of hauliers will lobby Parliament on foot in protest at record-high fuel prices.

The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations by lorry drivers at a time when many hauliers are fearing for their livelihoods.

For the first time in these protests, the freight company drivers were joined by members of the Road Haulage Association (RHA).

Motorists were warned that the London-bound carriageway of the A40 Westway, between White City and Edgware Road, would be closed from 10am until 4pm. The westbound carriageway, going out of London, remains open.

Groups of around 20 vehicles will travel by convoy along a circular route through central London. The convoy will travel from the A40 Westway via Park Lane, Victoria one-way system, across Vauxhall Bridge, along Albert Embankment and Lambeth Palace Road and back across Westminster Bridge.