The Prince of Wales bridge was closed in both directions twice on Monday as planned fuel protests took place. Officers arrested 12 protesters for driving offences, while traffic was held for a long period of time.
The protest comes as the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached a new high of 191.5p on Sunday, according to data firm Experian. The average price of diesel was 199.0p per litre.
Traffic was held and redirected for long periods, with some people even been spotted playing a game of football on an empty carriageway. At around 11am, police closed the Prince of Wales bridge to make several arrests and seize some vehicles involved in the protest. Gwent Police said at 11.50am that it had "fully re-opened".
Gwent Police chief superintendent Tom Harding has confirmed a total of 12 people were arrested for breaching the legal notice issued by the police prior to the protest by driving at under 30 mph for "a prolonged amount of time".
"Over the last two weeks, we have been working jointly with a number of partners to ensure that emergency and critical services could continue and to prevent serious disruption to both road users and local communities," Chief Supt Harding said.
"The right to protest under UK law must be balanced with the rights of the wider community who may be affected. By implementing restrictions on the moving protest, we aimed to protect the public and local communities.
"Along with partners, we identified that failing to comply with the legal notice requirements would lead to emergency and critical services being restricted therefore posing a risk to local communities, action was taken when I deemed these risks existed.
"We are aware of other driving offences, not connected to the protest, such as the use of a mobile phone whilst driving. These offences will be dealt with appropriately."
The protest got off to a slow start after leaving Magor Services just after 7am but congestion built throughout the morning as protesters staged a go-slow.
Officers from both Gwent Police and Avon and Somerset Police are in attendance. Protests across the UK targeted mainly three-lane motorways, according to FairFuelUK founder Howard Cox. While he said his organisation is not involved in the action, he is "fully supportive" of the demonstrations so long as they are conducted legally.
There have been reports of protests on the M5 in Somerset, in Devon and Cornwall, at a Tesco petrol station in Shepton Mallet and on the M54. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he will carefully consider calls for a "more substantial" fuel duty cut after the 5p per litre reduction implemented in March failed to halt price rises.
Story originally appeared: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/m4-fuel-protests-set-cause-24388510
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