TOWN hall worker Andy Wieckowski must be saluted for his valiant lone stand against the tyranny of mob rule.

The fuel frenzy isn't about the UK government -- fuel charges were announced in the budget on 21 March when the so-called fuel escalator was scrapped, driving costs down, not up. Since then there has been no change.

What we have here is a disparate gaggle of intensely selfish groups exercising unaccountable industrial muscle at massive cost to the nation.

This shameful action had been backed by a moronic majority which can't understand that, wearisome though it may be, we have to pay taxes otherwise we don't get services like hospitals, schools, and repairs to roads wrecked by heavy goods vehicles. Also, we live in a representative democracy -- that means you get to sack or back governments at elections, not when Farmer Jones or anyone else at Manor Farm feels like it.

The result of this spurious moralising and shabby politicking is that a bunch of carrot-crunchers, yahoo- truckers and petrol-head cabbies have attempted to dictate fiscal policy at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to UK plc.

This can't be allowed to happen again.

If people think UK pump prices justify wrecking the country, they should go and live in a place where fuel is cheap.

Rock on, Andy. Magnificent stuff.

David Chadwick

Bolton