European motorists, battered by road blockades, fuel shortages and high pump prices, will be asked to leave their cars at home next Friday in the name of the environment.
Some 700 cities in more than 20 European countries will take part in a car-free day to raise awareness of the problems caused by traffic and highlight alternative modes of transport.
Organisers admitted yesterday that they had been overtaken by Europe-wide protests against fuel prices that this week turned many parts of Britain and Belgium into de-facto car-free zones. Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Ireland were also affected yesterday by protests which show no signs of abating.
But while lorry-drivers, farmers and many private motorists hoped the blockades would force governments to reduce fuel taxes, environmentalists hope the crisis will provoke new policies.
Ms Elisabetta Zanon, a campaigner at the Car Free Cities Network, one of the bodies co-ordinating next week's event, said the blockades in Brussels, for example, had shown many motorists they could, if they had no alternative, find other ways of getting around.
"What struck me a lot was that people weren't so put out about what happened. They shifted to other modes of transport," she said.