PROTESTERS were to-day considering whether or not to end their action against fuel prices after failing to attract country-wide support.

Around 40 protesters at the Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock depots in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, were meeting to discuss whether or not to leave the scene of the week's demonstrations.

Forecourts were also quiet following an initial wave of panic buying in South and West Wales - including Gwent, where some stations sold out of petrol on Saturday morning following a wave of panic buying on Friday night.

Hauliers and farmers were still gathered in Avonmouth, but had by this morning left a site in Cardiff.

Protester Mike Greene, at the Texaco refinery in Pembroke Dock, said he was angry and disappointed that they had been let down by the rest of Britain. Across Gwent, garages saw queues forming on Friday night as news broke of the fuel protests. In Pontypool, drivers began queuing at 6.15pm to refuel at Albion Road filling station. A spokeswoman said: "It was absolute bedlam, and even worse on Saturday morning." At Park Gate garage, on Usk Road, staff said drivers had "gone berserk". Sainsbury's store in Cwmbran was virtually inaccessible as people queued along Llywelyn Road and Cwmbran Drive in their haste to fill up. The store manager, who asked not to be named, said: "Drivers are even being abusive. If anything, it is getting worse."

John Young, of Nantybwch Service Station, Tredegar, said people started panic buying five minutes after hearing the news.

Queues formed 90 minutes before the garage opened on Saturday. Mr Young limited the fuel to £10 per customer.

At the Festival Service Station, in Ebbw Vale, motorists were again limited as to the amount of fuel they could buy.

The queues at Crown Cross Service Station in Pont-llanfraith formed before staff had even heard of the blockades.

Meanwhile, police urged motorists not to follow the panic-buying trend, claiming they were likely to make the situation much worse.

Inspector Geoff Smith, at Gwent Police headquarters in Croesyceiliog, said they had seen queues forming outside several petrol stations over the weekend. He added: "The message we would like to give is to urge the public to maintain their usual petrol-purchasing patterns.

"There is no disruption of fuel supplies and distribution in the South Wales area, so there is no need for or advantage in panic buying. That is just going to cause shortages, which will create the kind of situation we all want to avoid."

Garages in Monmouthshire escaped relatively unscathed from the new wave of protests. Staff at many of the region's filling stations told the Argus that the expected queues failed to materialise.

Forecourt attendant at Overmonnow Garage, Rich-ard Bishop, said: "It has been steady here like normal and we should be fine."

It was a similar story at the Esso garage in Hereford Road, where staff said the flow of vehicles was normal and there were no queues.

But the new wave of protests did have an effect in the Valleys. Head cashier of the Heads of the Valleys petrol station, in Brynmawr, Carol Jenkins, said demand for petrol was so great that customers were limited to £15 worth per visit.