Protesters made their feelings plain

The convoy comprised 40 heavy goods vehicles, 11 public service vehicles and 31 private vehicles.

Spokesman for the People's Fuel Lobby Scotland, Robbie Burns, said despite a lower turnout than before, the protest had been a success.

"There's a lot more different issues in Scotland than in England," he said.

"You've got more rural communities and an awful lot more outlying areas.

"Where I live in the south east of Scotland, it's 55 miles to the nearest hospital and there's two buses a day and no trains.

'Tight margins'

"People need their cars. You can't just jump on the underground."

Mr Burns said the turnout in Scotland was good considering the distances people had to travel to reach Edinburgh.

"People can't afford to take time off work on a Tuesday. People can't afford days off when margins are so tight."

Brian Wilson: "Unjustified disruption"

There was good co-ordination between the police and protesters with no incidents reported.

No more action is planned before the spring, although the campaign would continue in other ways, he added.

Scotland Office Minister Brian Wilson said that the public did not welcome the campaign or the disruption it caused.

"The government has responded, not to every unreasonable demand of the hauliers, which is impossible, but to the legitimate case for lower taxation on environmentally-friendly fuel, a freezing of fuel duty, and a general cut in the number of costs to hauliers to make them more competitive," he insisted.

Legal argument

The convoy was made up of two groups, one which travelled down from John O'Groats, the other from Thainstone, near Inverurie, on Monday.

The north-east procession lost a legal attempt to overturn Dundee City Council's refusal to allow them to travel en masse down the Kingsway.

They united at Stirling and left for Edinburgh on Tuesday morning.