BRITAIN is a divided nation, split between old and young, rich and poor, North and South, the haves and have-nots. Now another social inequality can be added to that list: the mobile and the immobile.

While Government ministers glide around the country in chauffeur-driven limousines, rural residents without a car are stranded and forgotten.

For them the fuel blockade made no odds. They were going nowhere anyway. But it did give the rest of Britain a flavour of what it is like to be without transport. Mass panic-buying of petrol suggests that it was a taste few relished.

Most of the country is now moving again. Those without a car in the countryside are still stuck. And, due to high fuel prices, the situation is getting worse.

Today Yorkshire Coastliner announced it is withdrawing its Malton Townlink 93 service because diesel costs have made it untenable.

It is an unsubsidised, commercial route. Fare revenue was not covering operating costs so Yorkshire Coastliner had little choice but to axe the service.

For passengers this is just another blow. Many will be the poorest pensioners, already struggling to get by on a pension that has risen by a paltry 75p a week. They are the ones who have been hit hardest by the loss of rural post offices and shops. Now they are suffering because of fuel prices.

Tony Blair has his work cut out to persuade these voters that his Government is right for them. His administration has promised to pump cash into rural bus services, but that has done nothing for passengers of the Malton number 93.

The Prime Minister should announce an immediate, hefty cut in the duty on fuel used by rural buses. He could justifiably claim that the move was not a response to the fuel blockades, but was part of Labour's stated policy on boosting public transport.

Such a move might even persuade cynics that his Government is dedicated to serving everyone, not just well-off urbanites.