WITH a new fuel crisis looming as the protesters' 60-day call for action ticks away, Bolton area clergy have added their thoughts to the debate.

A few weeks ago the nation was brought to a standstill as demonstrators blockaded refineries and fuel supply depots across the country.

The protesters gave the Government 60 days to cut fuel duty or face more disruptions and that date passes next Monday.

Last week protest leaders announced that this time the protest would not involve blockading fuel depots. This has been followed by an announcement by Chancellor Gordon Brown on Monday that he is considering large cuts in road tax to lorry operators which may prevent confrontation.

Speaking in the latest edition of Crux, the Manchester Anglican Diocese's magazine, local clergy give their views on the crisis the nation has already suffered and their hopes for the future.

The Rev Paul Brody, team vicar of Worsley Team Ministry, says: "Any good that can come out of the blockade will depend on how much humility we can muster and whether institutions and individuals alike are prepared to admit we have made mistakes. It would be no bad thing if politicians and large institutions were to reflect on these things."

Mr Brody also calls for forgiveness on both sides. "New starts are so much easier when past faults are not raked up by those who might consider themselves victims," he says.

The Rev Canon Frank Bibby, rector of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich, believes the crisis highlights the nature of society and our dependency on each other.

"Most of us are probably continuing with our daily lives as though the blockade never happened," he writes. "Now is the time to reflect on our dependence on each other and our innate sinfulness."

The parish magazine of St Paul's, Astley Bridge, suggests that history will dictate whether the protesters will be praised or pilloried. Author Stephen Goddard says: "While one has to applaud their tenacity and perseverance, one cannot help but feel that all they have done is prove to OPEC that we cannot exist without oil."

He told the BEN: "There is a very general consensus among the clergy that the protesters weren't right to protest in that way. There are also concerns about this issue in the long term and how it affects such things as the environment." Panic buy garage is still dry PANIC buying has left motorists in Harwood high and dry as a busy petrol station faces a fifth day without fuel supplies.

The popular petrol station at the Safeway store on Hough Fold Road ran dry on Friday after a bout of rush buying by motorists scared of another round of fuel blockades.

Workers at the petrol station said they were expecting new supplies soon but at present they were helpless.

"The shop is still open but we have no petrol at all," they said. "It is purely down to panic buying, we have been flooded out with people filling up their cars.

"It started on Wednesday of last week and just went from there. By Friday we had no petrol left at all."