TRUCKERS today staged a demonstration outside a Hampshire oil refinery as part of a new national campaign against soaring petrol prices.

About a dozen placard-waving protesters gathered outside the huge petro-chemical complex at Fawley at 8am amid rumours that reinforcements were on the way.

Police sealed off lay-bys on the A326 to prevent them being used as assembly points for lorries and tractors.

And scores of police No Parking cones were placed along a road leading from the Hardley roundabout to the refinery gates.

A large car park near the entrance was also sealed off to stop it being used by truckers.

The protesters spoke to some of the tanker drivers leaving the refinery, but Esso said vehicles were continuing to drive out as normal.

The demonstration coincided with similar protests outside other refineries and fuel depots across the country.

Some of the people involved in the Fawley protest took part in a much larger campaign outside the refinery in September. They included Mike Harnett, who runs a vehicle-repair business at Ashurst in the New Forest.

He said: "A lot of my customers have spoken to me about the high cost of running a car and the exorbitant fuel prices they're having to pay. I also know truckers who are in trouble for the same reasons.

"I have to justify the increased costs I pass on to my customers, and the government has not justified the high price we have to pay for our fuel. It should indicate where the money is going or reduce it to a reasonable amount more in line with the rest of Europe."

Mr Harnett described today's demonstration as a peaceful protest that was not designed to prevent tankers leaving the refinery.

But he added: "We'll stay here as long as it takes to make our point to the government that fuel tax must come down."

An Esso spokesman described it as a low-key protest.

"The demonstrators are not causing an obstruction and they are not interfering with tanker departures," he said.