The threatened fuel protests have turned out, so far at least, to be something of a damp squib.

Even the organisers of this pointless exercise emphasised that there would be no blockade of oil refineries and depots.

Yet motorists panicked and queued in their thousands to top up their tanks in case of shortages.

What stupidity. Such behaviour threatens to add to the misery motorists are already facing with high fuel prices.

Creating artificial shortages can mean only one thing -- even higher prices and more frustration on the forecourts.

One person not bothered in the slightest about this crazy world is Abingdon company director Mike Lawton.

He has developed a device which allows his diesel car to run on chip oil, and can afford a wry smile as he passes the queues at the filling stations.

With our high dependency on fossil fuels, more effort must be made to match supply and demand worldwide.

Chancellor Gordon Brown could also help by reducing the enormous fuel taxes he imposes.

But in the long run, we need to develop new sources of energy to reduce our reliance on oil.