VILLAGERS who boycotted their petrol station for 24 hours in a protest over fuel prices, have called it a success for democracy, but the garage boss claims takings were actually up on the day.

Around 20 Lyneham villagers are believed to have refused to use Chippenham Motors in the village last Friday to protest at the station's 82.9 pence per litre fuel charge.

Furious that they have to pay more than motorists living in many nearby villages, some revealed they travel into Swindon to buy cheaper petrol, rather than paying higher prices in the village.

But Stephen Andrews, managing director of the Chippenham Motor Company said that while he believed the boycott did go ahead last Friday, it made no impact on his business.

"I was very pleased that the vast majority of the local community in Lyneham were wholly supportive of our business during the day of boycott and our turnover was actually above average," he said.

"This shows that local people do value a local service, even if it costs them a penny more."

The row over the petrol prices first ignited on the interactive message boards of the Lyneham village website.

The site invites villagers to air their views on local issues and has successfully campaigned on a range of topics, including speed restrictions.

Manager of the www.lynehamvillage.com website, Andy Humm, said that it was difficult to work out how many people had actually taken part in the boycott.

"This is people fed up of paying too much for their petrol making a stand," he said.

Meanwhile, controversy continues to simmer, with some supporters of the boycott urging the garage to introduce reduced rate days for villagers.