LONDON, Sept. 13  Oil tankers rolled out from blockaded refineries to replenish Britains empty petrol stations on Wednesday, but the government said it could take days or weeks to recover from the worst fuel crisis in 25 years.

BRITISH TRUCK DRIVERS took their campaign to the heart of London on Wednesday, choking off inner-city streets as they headed en masse to Parliament. Much of Europe faced more chaos from fuel shortages and road blocks as truckers, farmers and others incensed by heavy fuel taxes on top of high crude oil prices began another day of protests. Belgian truck drivers maintained blockades in Brussels for a fourth day and sealed off motorways throughout the country, blocking border crossings with Germany, the Netherlands and France. Ireland and Spain were also threatened with new action.

Although fuel began flowing in Britain again on Wednesday, the Labor government admitted its bid to face down the protesters wasnt as successful as hoped. Some of the tankers on the road early Wednesday were met by shouts of abuse from demonstrators, but there were no reports of violence. TANKERS UNDER ESCORT The government, which has vowed to pursue a tough line to end the acute nationwide shortages, said 60 tankers had left blocked refineries overnight under police escort to refuel the emergency services.

Queen Elizabeth II and her senior advisers gave the British government the go-ahead to employ emergency measures, which could include the use of troops to move fuel to critical points. Under the measures, the government instructed oil companies to deliver fuel to hundreds of stations across Britain, said the Department of Trade and Industry. It was billed as the beginning of the end of a six-day crisis that hobbled Britain and presented Prime Minister Tony Blair with his toughest test yet. But retailers said the amount of oil shipped during the night would do little to refill bone-dry service stations. Two in three of Britains 13,000 filling stations remained empty at dawn and retailers said it would take three weeks to get supplies back to normal.

BLAIRS REPUTATION AT STAKE Blair has staked his reputation on forcing a speedy end to the crisis. On Tuesday he all but ordered the oil giants to brave the blockades, erected by farmers, truckers and small-business owners who say they face ruin from high diesel prices. But Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott admitted the get-tough policy was not bringing rapid results. Its not moving as fast as wed hoped it would, he said. Oil prices pull back from near 10-year highs

At Avonmouth Docks near Bristol on Wednesday, protesters said they intended to stay put. Tony Blair said last night this will all be over in 24 hours and we want to ram those words down his throat, said truck driver Julie Charles. Fresh talks between Blair and the oil companies were planned for Wednesday as officials remained perplexed about why tanker trucks had been kept idle by small groups of protesters. Health officials said a few demonstrators were holding an entire nation to ransom, as corpses languished in morgues and surgeries went on hold.

The protests in Britain started on Sept. 7, with groups of farmers, taxi drivers, fishermen and even retirees picketing refineries across the country. By Tuesday, hospitals canceled non-vital surgery, ambulance services reported delays and the Royal Post Office warned that its deliveries were being seriously threatened. One municipality in Wales said it was closing all 19 of its secondary schools because staff were unable to get to work.

Health officials said a few demonstrators were holding an entire nation to ransom, as corpses languished in morgues and surgeries went on hold. Staff arent getting to work. Patients cant be discharged home, so the pressures on the health service are really, really grave, said the Royal College of Nursing. Its becoming critical in some parts of the country. Blair has said he cannot abruptly change the national budget by slashing taxes now. A cutting cartoon in the Financial Times daily showed one official telling another: This is a democracy  we cant cut fuel duty just because everyone wants us to. The British pay the highest fuel taxes in Europe. Taxes account for 74 percent of the cost at $4.31 per gallon. BELGIAN TRUCKERS BLOCK ROADS In Belgium, truckers blocked the main motorway linking Germany with Belgium, and German truckers and farmers threatened to join the protest. Traffic in both directions on the main A44 German motorway was halted by a barricade of trucks set up near the Eynatten exit on the Belgian side, a police spokesman in the German border city of Aachen said. We expect it to remain there for the foreseeable future, he said. Similar actions at other smaller crossings were causing considerable stoppages but protesters were still letting through individual motorists, he said. Truckers also brought traffic to a standstill on motorways in west Flanders in the Dutch-speaking north and in French-speaking Nivelles, Mons, Charleroi and Liege. Four oil depots remained blocked, although there were no immediate reports of service stations running out of petrol. In 10 hours of talks that lasted until late on Tuesday night, government officials and transport industry representatives hammered out a draft proposal on measures offering part-compensation for rising fuel prices. The talks were to resume on Wednesday morning. But leaders of the truckers union responsible for the blockade that has snarled traffic in streets leading to Brussels historic center again stormed out of talks on Tuesday. Advertisement Quick Gifts Swimwear Books Music & Video Computing Electronics Toys & Games More . . .

Leaders of the French-speaking Professional Union for Road Transport said the government was unwilling to seriously consider its key demand for a 1.87 Belgian franc ($0.04) per liter cut in excise taxes on diesel fuel. Brussels workers walked, cycled or rode scooters past the transport ministry, sometimes stopping to admire the trucks parked in front. In France, where the protests first erupted last week but later ended in a deal with the government, motorists queued at petrol stations on the Riviera following rumors that truckers were set to resume their blockades of oil depots. Crude oil prices dipped a little on Wednesday. In London, October Brent was trading 63 cents weaker at $31.85 a barrel by mid-morning. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed over the weekend to raise output by 800,000 barrels a day. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 13, 2000