Downing Street denies fuel shortage as panic buyers run UK dry

Panic buying across the country triggered by localised petrol shortages at some stations shows no signs of stopping (Picture: Reuters/PA/Getty)

Downing Street has denied Britain is facing fuel shortages as panic buying continues across the country.

The government continues to insist there is enough fuel to go around but there is unprecedented pressure on garages as huge queues continue to form.

The news that BP and Esso were struggling to transport fuel to stations because of a shortage of HGV drivers sent motorists rushing to forecourts last Friday.

Brian Madderson, chairman of an industry group representing 5,500 independent outlets, today warned between 50% and 90% are running out of stock because of massive demand.

Ministers have suspended competition laws in order to allow companies to work together and deliver stock, as well as unveiling plans to recruit 5,000 foreign drivers to plug gaps in the UK’s ailing logistics industry.

Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson told reporters that there are no shortages and again appealed for calm.

He said: ‘We have ample fuel stocks in this country – the public should continue to be reassured there are no shortages.

A national shortage of lorry drivers has put the petrol industry under huge pressure, with some companies unable to deliver fuel (Picture: PA)

Garages which had stock before the weekend are now having to close or switch some pumps off because of high demand (Picture: SWNS)

‘We’ll continue to work closely with the industry to take action where there is pressure on petrol stations.’

Despite the government’s assurances that the country has a good supply of fuel, panic buying has left some drivers unable to access any.

Electrician Roland McKibbin, 31, from Beckenham, south-east London, said he would only be able to reach one of his jobs on Monday having been unable to fill up his tank, despite visiting four petrol stations.

He added: ‘I rely on fuel to travel to jobs – no fuel means I can’t drive, which means I can’t get to jobs with my tools.

‘So, basically, the panic-buying idiots have lost me income, and directly taken food off the table for my wife and five-year old son, because I can’t wire people’s houses from home, unfortunately.

‘I wasted about 15 miles of fuel looking – in the end I had to turn back as I was on fumes.’

Boris Johnson has moved to assure Brits there is no petrol but the panic buying doesn’t seem to be letting up (Picture: Reuters)

The government has not ruled out drafting in the army to help distribute fuel but has not called on the military yet.

Environment secretary George Eustice said the government has ‘no plans at the moment’ to use the Army to drive petrol tankers.

He added: ‘We are bringing Ministry of Defence trainers in to accelerate some of the HGV training to clear a backlog of people who want to carry out those tests, and there’s definitely a role there for the MOD.

‘In terms of other things we’ve no plans at the moment to bring in the Army to actually do the driving, but we always have a Civil Contingencies section within the Army on standby – but we’re not jumping to that necessarily at the moment.’

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