MOTORISTS across Yorkshire are uniting in a call for cheaper petrol - although many fear their plans to boycott fuel will have little effect.

As prices nudge the £1 a litre mark, a massive Internet campaign entitled Dump the Pump is urging motorists to boycott all petrol pumps on August 1, and every Monday thereafter, to force the Government to cut fuel tax.

But some, like Ryedale MP John Greenway, fear it could instead force rural petrol stations out of business and worsen the crisis in the countryside.

He said: "I was at Malton Show yesterday and I lost count of the number of people who complained about the cost of petrol.

"People are feeling it very badly and I think the Government has completely underestimated the scale of the problems it's causing for a hard-pressed community that is already reeling from a significant recession.

"The trouble with this campaign is it will hit petrol companies and some of the rural petrol stations which are already struggling will go out of business."

According to the AA, motorists in Britain pay £36 billion a year to the treasury, of which only £6billion is returned in investment in roads and public transport.

An AA spokesman said: "We don't support the campaign, but we can understand the sentiments behind it because prices are the highest ever and it's extremely frustrating.

"We have the most highly taxed fuel in the developed world and we can see why people are doing this but we don't think it will work.

"At best it will cause a ripple in purchase patterns and I think the Government is already having it screamed at them how unhappy people are."

Mike Hughes, owner of Smith Bros Garage in Easingwold, said: "All we're doing is collecting tax for the Government and we're the ones who get it in the neck from the customers."