WHEN it emerged that vehicle fuel prices were likely to rise again in September 2000, something just snapped in the national psyche.

Hauliers and farmers mounted blockades of refineries and the Channel Tunnel and quickly forecourt supplies dwindled.

Motorists began panic-buying, leading to petrol rationing and long queues at garages quickly becoming familiar sights.

At one stage the government estimated that 90 per cent of fuel stations were empty.

So, when fuel protests again hit the headlines this week, many people feared the worst.

But this latest outbreak of anger over fuel prices hitting an average of 86p a litre shows few signs of developing into protests of a similar ferocity.

At the start of the millennium, the government was very much the focus of the fury over fuel. The fuel tax escalator, introduced by the Conservatives in 1993 to combat climate change and raise finance for the Treasury, was still notching up the price at the pump year on year.

So effective were the protests over this hated ruse that the political landscape has changed significantly since.

In his next budget Chancellor Gordon Brown cut fuel tax and scrapped the fuel tax escalator.

So loud was the voice of the protestors that he has barely raised the tax on fuel again, a decision now costing the Treasury an estimated £2 billion a year in lost income . . . and counting.

Fast-forward to 2005 and the rocketing prices of crude oil are plainly nothing to do with a government at the mercy of world markets.

As China's economic miracle continues apace, it eats up an ever-greater share of the world's oil production and prices rise as a result.

One local fuel protester, who did not want to be named, said his fuel bill for four lorries had risen to £14,000 a month from £13,000 since October, but accepted it wasn't all down to the government.

"Last time fuel prices were going up as a direct result of government policy, so there was a definite target," he said. "But now, they have held the duty on fuel for two years, so there's not the same impetus.

"It's down to world markets. The government is going to have to drop the tax."

Meanwhile, figures from the Office of National Statistics confirm that despite high oil prices, the cost of motoring, including buying and running a car, has actually gone down in recent years.

The latest figures show that between 1977 and 2003, incomes rose 28.8 per cent, bus and coach fares 24.6 per cent, rail fares 18.6 per cent and motoring costs just 9.7 per cent.

So, while the region's hundreds of hauliers, taxi drivers, farmers, coach firms and parcel carriers, who count fuel as one of their primary costs, are struggling with ever higher diesel bills, public motoring is cheaper than ever.

Another blow to protesters looking to scale up their campaign to the heights witnessed in 2000 is the lack of backing for action from industry bodies.

The Freight Transport Association, which represents more than 200,000 goods vehicles, almost half of the UK total fleet, sympathises with the protesters but opposes direct action.

FTA chief executive Richard Turner said: "I repeat FTA's absolute opposition to direct action designed to inhibit the free distribution of oil and petrol.

"But we must have an early signal from government that it understands the extent of the hauliers' problem and will take steps to assist.

"The fact that fuel constitutes up to 30 per cent of a lorry's operating costs makes the very existence of some companies at risk when oil prices rise so sharply.

"A lower fuel duty level for diesel is not about shoring up support for inefficient hauliers. It is about ensuring that industry has a competitive cost base and that price inflation is kept in check.

"This is not about fat hauliers but about lean transport costs supporting an efficient and competitive economy."

There is little relief on the horizon for the county's motoring businesses.

Last week, as tractors and trucks were carrying out a go-slow on Hampshire's roads, oil giant BP forecast oil prices were likely to remain high for the foreseeable future.

As he unveiled record first-quarter profits of £2.88 billion, Lord Browne of Madingley, BP's chief executive, said continued growth in demand for oil and the limited spare production capacity would keep the price at more than 40 US dollars a barrel.

Figures like that are bad news for all of us according to the Federation of Small Businesses, which says high fuel prices would push up the price of goods on shelves.

A spokesman said: "Transport is an essential tool for small businesses and any increase in the cost of fuel is a direct increase in their costs and affects their bottom line, which means price rises for customers.

"Two sectors are particularly struggling and that's the rural sector and manufacturing, both of which are heavily affected by rising fuel bills."

That means the protests are unlikely to go away.

Fuel protest organiser Chris Hunter, who is planning more action in Hampshire on Tuesday as part of a national campaign, said the protests were about to continue. "Feeling is running very high against fuel prices at the moment," he said.

"We will keep this in the public limelight and see what happens. Support for us in a recent radio poll was 96 per cent.

"So long as we don't disrupt the public, I don' t think we'll have a problem.

"I think we could see protests all through the summer if nothing is done."