Fuel protesters hailed a major M4 go-slow in Wales as a success today after it caused massive rush-hour disruption on the motorway.
Police effectively attempted to disarm the protest this morning by ordering drivers not to drop their speed below 40mph.
In a surprise move they used the Public Order Act to impose conditions, which also required protesters to drive only on the inside lane.
Minutes before driving off the protesters were warned that cameras would be collecting evidence of anybody who flouted the conditions and prosecutions would ultimately be made.
Protesters initially followed the conditions after leaving Cross Hands, near Llanelli, west Wales, en route for Newport, but their speed quickly dropped as it carried on up the M4.
As a result at one point police, who were out in force along the length of the motorway, ordered it to speed up as it reached the M4 bottleneck of Port Talbot where traffic was sporadically halted.
But by the time it reached Cardiff, up to three-and-a-half hours after setting off, a tailback of up to four miles was spread across three lines and the lead lorries were travelling no faster than 15mph.