Bank holiday stay-at-home

The bank holiday weekend is proving the quietest in years on the roads as soaring petrol costs force would-be holidaymakers to abandon planned getaways.

But Black Country tourist attractions were today keeping their fingers crossed for high visitor numbers despite fears that rising food and energy prices might force people to cut back on spending.

More than 18 million cars usually take to the country's roads over the spring bank holiday weekend.

Yet the Highways Agency has reported a quiet time on the roads and there were no queues at the pumps today as petrol prices forced drivers to re-think their long trips. Barj Singh, who runs Blakenhall Service Station in Dudley Road, Wolverhampton, said: "On a bank holiday weekend we'd normally need an extra person to help me out, but today I'm by myself and it's quiet.

"It was the same last bank holiday. People are being put off going anywhere because of the prices. I'm not expecting it to be anything other than quiet.

"At the moment a litre of diesel is £1.28, but when we have our next tanker of diesel we'll have to charge £1.30 a litre."

Travellers planning on catching trains to London were set to face longer journey times on the busy West Coast Main Line which has shut down all Virgin Trains and London Midland services between the West Midlands and Euston station today, tomorrow and on Bank Holiday Monday.

Despite the increased traffic that could normally be expected as a result, the region's motorways have so far been surprisingly manageable for a bank holiday with no serious accidents and no traffic jams.

Peter Suddock, chief executive of Dudley Zoo, said he expected the attraction to benefit from soaring petrol prices as people choose to stay closer to home for the weekend. He said: "We expect lots of people will want to stay local."