A convoy of trucks will take to the streets of Edinburgh in protest at the rising cost of fuel.

Up to 100 lorries are expected to converge on the city tomorrow, where they will stage a go-slow protest through the capital.

Many of the hauliers will start off in Glasgow before making their way along the M8 motorway to meet up with others at Hermiston Gait and entering Edinburgh.

The convoy will head towards the city centre, travelling at 15mph, before parking in Regent Road.

Three trucks will be escorted by police to the Scottish Parliament, where a letter will be handed to transport minister Stewart Stevenson.

The protest comes a fortnight after hundreds of lorry drivers took to the streets of London calling for a cut in fuel duty.

David McCutcheon, one of the organisers, said the rising cost of fuel had left many hauliers in a "dire" position.

He is managing director of Bothwell-based Bullet Express and said the company was having to pay an extra £125,000 a year for fuel.

"The Government are enjoying a lot of extra revenue that they didn't account for due to the doubling of the price of oil," he said.

We are a crucial part of the infrastructure of this country and the Government does not realise that David McCutcheon

"They are raking all that extra cash in and at the same time we are suffering.

"We have to go out there to keep our businesses running and keep the country running.

"We are a crucial part of the infrastructure of this country and the Government does not realise that."

And Mr McCutcheon predicted if action was not taken to alleviate the problem, fuel protests could become a weekly occurrence.

Some haulage firms had already closed because of the high cost of fuel and others were likely to follow, he added.

Mr McCutcheon said the aim of the protest was not to cause "mass disruption" and pointed out the trucks would be travelling at normal speed on the motorway.

The convoy will set off from Strathclyde Park, Glasgow, at 9am tomorrow.

Organisers expect to arrive at Holyrood at around 11am.

But the Green Party said the current fuel price rises were merely a taste of things to come as global oil production stalled then went into decline.

MSP Patrick Harvie said: "The era of cheap oil is over, and further increases in the oil price will wipe out any short term tax changes almost immediately.

"Instead we need to see a much more radical shift to rail transport for goods, alongside greater support for Scotland's local food economies.

"Some goods will always need to be moved by road, though, and that will require improved fuel efficiency for our haulage fleet and research to look into sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels."

The Federation of Small Business Scotland said e action is symptomatic of the difficulties which every part of the economy is experiencing as a result of high fuel prices.

Andy Willox, FSB Scotland Policy convener, said: "You don't need to tell the men and women running a small business about the devastating impact the price of fuel is having on the economy.

"These continual rises in price - and no hint of where they might end - are inflicting real damage on businesses and hard-pressed consumers alike.

"We understand the frustration of independent hauliers and others who are finding that every visit to the pumps puts them closer to the brink and we would hope that the governments in Holyrood and Westminster might start to appreciate just how difficult things have become."