THE Rudsdale family of Castleton is preparing to think the unthinkable.

If petrol prices keep on going up, drastic measures are on the cards.

The family will have to consider getting rid of one of its two cars, or severely restricting the out-of-school and social life of their children.

Living out in the North York Moors, they now spend about £70 a week on petrol - and that's not involving casual pleasure motoring. It is to cover journeys to and from work and the ferrying of youngsters who are otherwise isolated in an area with limited public transport.

"It's as though we are being penalised for living out here," said Mrs Rita Rudsdale. "There is no doubt we are worse off in Castleton, but I would be loath to leave. We have been here all our lives."

The Rudsdales are a typical rural family consisting of husband, wife and three children.

Their eldest son, Simon, lives and works in Leeds. Daughter, Joanna, is 19 and at Leeds university, but lives at home in the holidays. Their youngest child, Emma, is 15 and goes to school in Whitby, a distance of 17 miles from home.

Mrs Rudsdale works two miles away in Danby, while her husband, Peter, works mainly in Billingham as a self-employed architectural technician.

The family runs two cars, a Peugeot 406 two-litre, which Mr Rudsdale uses, and a Peugeot 309 1.3cc for Mrs Rudsdale.

He now spends £50 a week on fuel and clocks up about 22,000 miles a year, using roughly 14 gallons a week. He has paid as much as 88.9p a litre for fuel.

For his wife, getting to and from work is not a particular problem. But everything Emma does outside school involves the car. She travels to and from Whitby college by train, but most of her school activities usually involve a 35-mile round trip, sometimes further.

The other week she went to York for athletics.

"It would be impossible to use public transport for such things," said Mrs Rudsdale. "The only alternative would be not to do it."

The last train back from Whitby is just after 8pm, and any after school activity there could involve waiting a few hours to catch a train, and her mother does not want her wandering around the town on her own, so again, using the car is vital.

The first train through the village takes children to Whitby but could not get people to work in Middlesbrough, say, for 9am.

The first bus to Teesside is at 7.30, but the journey takes at least 90 minutes and does not return until about 6.30. There are no services during the day.

When home from university, Joanna uses her mother's car.

"To have any sort of social life, she needs transport," said Mrs Rudsdale, "and when she goes to university we have to take her and fetch her back."

She spends about £20 a week on petrol.

Her husband is starting to feel the pinch of the recent rise in prices.

"We have not stopped doing anything, but it could come to that," said Mrs Rusdale. "But it would be really unfair to have to deny Emma all the activities the others had simply because of the cost of petrol."

She says something should be done.

Her brother has a small haulage firm on Teesside, and she says the hike in prices is crippling the business. "He will go out of business unless something is done," she said.

Public transport would have to improve dramatically for people like the Rudsdales to be lured away from their cars.

"Living here you have to have a car," she said. "It's all very well the government saying use public transport, but it's not that simple."

She slammed the Prime Minister's recent comments about petrol tax going on the NHS as "blackmail", and said rural areas such as the moors should have a reduced rate of duty.

"Drivers have just paid up in the past, but something needs to be sorted out now," she said. "We are really noticing the difference. We have been complacent about filling up, but now we are very much aware of what it costs."

Ironically, the family featured in a national newspaper article for which they had to manage without a car for a week. Mr Rudsdale was working in Middlesbrough at the time.

"It was a nightmare. Horrendous," said Mrs Rudsdale. "Peter left home at 7.30 in the morning and did not get back until after 6.30 in the evening. And unless the girls could get a lift they could not go out. Swimming, sports, music and such were a big no-no.

"We had no idea how little public transport there is around here. It was harder than we thought but we did it. We were so glad to get our car keys back."

Mrs Rudsdale says the community thinks it is getting a rough deal.

She thinks councillors need to be lobbying on the issue, and that MPs should be aware of the hardships being caused.

"We should not have to lobby our MPs, they should already be acting on our behalf," she said. "There is a limit to what you can do on a family budget. The point could come where we have to lose one car and it would be almost impossible to manage without."

Castleton has one filling station, run by local motor dealership Champions. Last week, unleaded was selling at 84.9p a litre.

Mr Rick Champion said: "My petrol is as cheap as anywhere. People are still buying about the same amounts of fuel, but we are making less profit.

"The government should make the tax the same as that in Europe.