The call for a boycott of petrol stations in the North yesterday was largely ignored by motorists, according to petrol retailers. Organisers and supporters of the British "Dump the Pump" campaign had called for motorists not to fill up at petrol stations as part of their campaign against high prices.
The protest was backed in principle by the Northern Ireland Federation of Small Businesses, the Road Haulage Association and the Association of British Motorists.
But Mr Thomas Palmer, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association in the North, said all the indications were that local motorists had paid little heed.
With petrol in the North costing about 83p sterling for a litre of premium, Belfast drivers filling up their tanks yesterday said they were doing so out of necessity.
Many petrol stations just south of the Border offer fuel at about 25 per cent less.
Mr John Harkin's Texaco garage on the Buncrana road is now simply a convenience store and computer shop. He said local drivers had "dumped his pump" long ago.
The Texaco garage, less than a minute's drive away over the Border, at Bridgend in Co Donegal, was crowded with customers. "What you would get for £25 in Northern Ireland you're getting for £20 here," said one man who had driven 30 miles to fill up.