A MAN USES PETROL PUMPS IN CENTRAL LONDON ON DUMP THE PUMP PROTEST DAY, 2000-08-01...

A man uses a petrol pump on "Dump the Pump Day" in central London August 1, 2000. British motorists were urged to boycott filling stations on Tuesday in the first of a series of protests against petrol prices that are the highest in Europe. The main target of the "Dump the Pump" campaign is the tax that amounts to three-quarters of the price of petrol in Britain - and the man in charge of taxation policy, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. British petrol prices shot up more than 40 percent between January 1999 and June 2000. Recent falls in wholesale markets and a war by supermarket outlets have cut the cost, but prices above 80 pence per litre - $1.20 per litre or $4.50 per U.S. gallon - are not uncommon. RUS