THE GWENT farmer at the head of last year's fuel protests has warned that the country will be brought to a standstill if petrol prices rise again.

David Handley, chairman of Farmers for Action, spoke out after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided to slash production by 1.5 million barrels a day - accompanied by a 500,000 barrel reduction by non-Opec producers.

Energy minister Brian Wilson said there should be no rush to raise the pump prices of petrol, although city economists predicted it would add 1p-2p to the current price of 69p-70p a litre.

But Mr Handley warned: "It's very simple. This country will be closed down within 15 minutes if petrol prices rise. We have everything in place from one end of the country to the other the moment there is any change. All it takes is a few phone calls and e-mails to be put into operation."

Last time Opec decided to reduce its production it took more than a year for prices in Britain to rise from 65p to 85p a litre and any rise in fuel costs will not hit motorists for some weeks.

Mr Handley told the Argus: "We don't want to have to take this kind of action. Companies like BP and Shell are still making mega profits as things stand and the government cannot allow Opec to dictate prices at the pumps."

He added: "If they do, however, we will be right at the forefront of another campaign - make no bones about it."

The autumn 2000 petrol crisis which brought Britain to a virtual standstill also strained the patience of the British public who initially supported Mr Handley's campaign.

But now he believes people will support a renewed battle at the pumps.

"The British public are the ones to suffer when prices are high and due to our action they have been able to have more money in their pockets to spend on their families," he said.

"I am very confident of public support and we still get letters of support every week asking us to keep monitoring the situation