THE idea of a relatively small group of people holding the rest of the country to ransom to improve their own livelihoods very rarely finds support with the majority of the population.

For a start sensible people old enough to remember the widespread industrial disputes of the late 1970s will shudder at any hint of that kind of disruption making a comeback in this country.

And there is hardly widespread public sympathy for the Shell tanker drivers taking strike action to try to get a double digit percentage pay rise when they already earn far more than the average East Lancashire worker.

But as we have all suffered from recent rises in fuel prices it is not hard to imagine the crippling impact the massive increase in the cost of diesel will have had on those who earn their living driving trucks.

Because of our government's big tax take from fuel it is now almost cheaper to send lorries across the channel just to fill up - a situation which makes it impossible for many hauliers to compete with their continental counterparts.

The anger of lorry drivers is understandable but they must take care not to push the public too far as they flex their muscles in a quest to get a better fuel price deal from the government.