A teenager from Witham is taking her protest about the high price of UK petrol straight to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.

Chris Jaye, 17, of Saul's Avenue, Witham, has organised a petition in protest at fuel prices which, she says, are "too expensive" .

Miss Jaye first decided to take action while on holiday in Europe, where petrol prices were much cheaper.

She said: "Last year, I drove to Morocco with friends and we went through France and Spain. We couldn't believe how cheap the price of petrol was.

"Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe, and if they put it up to £5 a litre people will still have to pay it. I don't see why we should pay all this tax, but if more people did something like this we would get somewhere."

Miss Jaye added: "I'll be sending the petition to Gordon Brown rather than the local MP as the people who have signed it come from all over East Anglia."

In four hours over two days, the petition has been signed by 105 friends and co-workers and Miss Jaye will be sending it direct to chancellor Gordon Brown later this week.

Her petition is the latest action in a public campaign to bring down the price of petrol in the UK, including a national petrol boycott day on August 1.

Barbara Peen, of petrol producers British Petroleum (BP), said: "The day of action will most likely hit smaller retailers harder than the Government. People will still buy petrol but just not on one day."

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