Brits face summer travel meltdown with airport misery, train chaos AND rocketing

A STRING of crippling transport blows yesterday left struggling Brits with only one option for a summer holiday treat — firing up a barbie in the back garden.

The latest travel woe saw petrol hit £2 a litre as rail unions announced a national three-day strike.

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And there was no end in sight to the airport chaos.

It has left Brits facing a summer travel meltdown with chaos on the rails and rocketing fuel prices piled on top of airport misery.

The militant RMT union yesterday announced a three-day train strike — the biggest in a generation — within two weeks.

Unleaded petrol hit £2 a litre for the first time — with experts predicting it will soon cost £110 to fill a car.

It leaves fed-up families facing a choice between battling summer airport queues or increasingly-costly staycations.

Last night they joined white van workers and travel industry experts urging the Government to fix the mess.

Plumber Andy Brindley, 53, a dad of three from Brighton, said: “It’s costing a bomb to get around in my diesel van so I try to stay as local as possible.

“I’ll be working even harder all summer to get my kids a nice holiday to Cornwall. But even that’s looking incredibly steep and up in the air at the moment. Someone needs to pull their finger out and help those of us grafting.”

Paul Charles, of travel consultancy the PC Agency, said: “It’s looking like a summer meltdown with problems on roads, railways and at airports.

“Someone has got to get a grip on protecting what used to be the Great British Getaway.

“At this rate, the whole of the summer is going to be causing real hardship because it will be too unpredictable to travel.

“So that’s why we need tough decisions, not dithering.”

The RMT will cause a week of rail chaos by shutting down the network on June 21, 23 and 25 after talks broke down over pay and redundancies.

More than 40,000 staff from Network Rail and 13 train operators are expected to take part.

On the first day, RMT workers on the Tube are planning another walkout over pensions and job losses — taking the tally of striking employees to 50,000.

The strike coincides with major events such as Glastonbury, gigs in London’s Hyde Park by Elton John and the Rolling Stones and England playing New Zealand in a Test match in Leeds.

And it is Armed Forces Day on June 25.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the decision to strike was “incredibly disappointing”.

He added: “The pandemic has changed travel habits — with 25 per cent fewer ticket sales and the taxpayer stepping in to keep the railways running at a cost of £16billion, equivalent to £600 a household. We must act now to put the industry on a sustainable footing.”

The Rail Delivery Group which represents train operating firms, urged the union to call off strikes.

Chairman Steve Montgomery said no one wins. He added: “Staff lose pay, the industry loses vital revenue making it harder to afford pay increases, plus passengers and businesses are disrupted. While we will keep as many services running as possible, sadly if this action goes ahead, significant disruption will be inevitable.”

Tory MP Huw Merriman, chair of the transport select committee, said: “These strikes could have devastating consequences at a time when we need to get more people back on the railway to secure its future.”

Petrol hit £2 a litre at a Gulf garage in Great Horkesley, Essex.

A BP on the A1 near Sunderland was selling litres of unleaded and diesel for 202.9p and 204.9p. The cost of filling up topped £98 for the first time in history on Monday.

Howard Cox, of FairFuelUK, said action was crucial to reduce crippling pump prices.

He said the oil industry was fleecing motorists at will, adding: “The Government is still turning a blind eye to decades of chronic profiteering. That has to stop.”

Airport chaos is set to continue into the summer holidays as staff shortages lead to cancellations and delays. Dozens of flights were axed again yesterday — including 60 inbound and outbound with easyJet.

Members of the Unite and GMB unions who work as check-in staff and ground workers are voting over strike action at Heathrow.

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STOP TAKING US FOR FUELS, BOJO

By Simon Read and Kate Ferguson

BORIS Johnson was last night urged to get a grip on the growing fuel shambles — amid warnings pump prices will top £2 a litre everywhere by summer.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “With analysts predicting oil will average $135 (£107) a barrel for the rest of this year drivers need to brace themselves for average fuel prices rocketing.”

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