DEFIANT fuel tax campaigners last night vowed to continue with their London-bound convoy - despite signs the protest was on the verge of collapse.

A slow-moving procession of about 100 trucks, tractors, vans and cars brought Newcastle city centre to a virtual standstill yesterday, in the first stage of a trek dubbed the 2000 Jarrow Crusade.

But by the time they stopped overnight at Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, the numbers had dwindled to 15, as splits among the protest leaders and warnings that they would be prevented from entering London threatened to bring a premature end to the campaign.

Brynle Williams, leader of September's blockades of fuel refineries, urged the protestors to call off their convoy.

He said the concessions announced in Wednesday's mini-Budget had not gone far enough, but said further protest now could harm their argument.

He said: "The British public has suffered enough now. We have got all this flooding up and down the countryside - there is a possibility that it will be added to by the protestations.

"I would like to see the convoy stop now, and hopefully the drivers go home."

The convoy may also be denied entry to London after police said they would set up an exclusion zone around the capital.

Truckers would have to show they had a legitimate reason for entering the city, and protestors could be forced to abandon their vehicles and make their way in by public transport.

Commissioner Sir John Stevens said the strict measures were being taken in part through fears the protest could be exploited by terrorists to mount a pre-Christmas bombing campaign.

Sir John said: "I make no bones about it, I am very worried about the terrorist threat."

The convoy was due to enter London on Tuesday morning to take part in a planned mass rally in Hyde Park.

But defiant convoy organiser Andrew Spence, a farmer and haulier, from Consett, County Durham, said the police tactics would only strengthen their cause.

He said: "If that is the way the police want to do it they can, but this is another nail in the coffin of the police state.

"The protest is not running out of steam - I think this will give it more steam."

Mr Spence also accused the police of intimidation, claiming patrol cars had split up the convoy to make it look smaller than it was.

But he was delighted with the turnout for the protest.

He said: "I'm proud of these lads. It's a 600-mile round trip and they're doing it out of their own pockets. Their dedication is unbelievable."

And he rounded on Mr Williams, saying: "He has sold us down the river.

"I'm disgusted at what he had to say. He's a traitor."

After driving through Newcastle, about 40 vehicles left the Birtley service station, near Gateshead, just before 1pm to take part in the first leg of the drive south.

In a further blow to the convoy, fishermen yesterday halted plans to hold their own protest on Tuesday, with a flotilla sailing up the Thames.

The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations chairman, Sam Lambourn, said: "The Government has demonstrated that it is prepared to listen."

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