The fuel crisis is ‘virtually at an end’ in some parts of the UK – but the situation is still ‘absolutely horrendous’ in London and the South East, the Petrol Retailers Association has said.
In Scotland, the North and the Midlands, only 6% of filling stations were empty, according to the PRA.
But further south, more than one in five had run dry, and only 60% had both petrol and diesel available.
It comes as dozens of military drivers are due to be deployed for first time on Monday as part of Operation Escalin to keep filling stations supplied.
Soldiers were seen helping to deliver fuel for the first time on Sunday, with servicemen spotted being shown how to unload a tanker at a Shell Garage in the New Forest, Hampshire.
PRA chairman Brian Madderson said that there were only ‘one or two dry sites’ north of London and that the ‘general improvement has continued’.
But he added that the situation in London and the South-East remained difficult, telling Sky News: ‘It’s all really to do with the population, we have 25 million-plus living in and around London [and the] Home Counties.’
He said it was one of the world’s greatest metropolitan areas ‘and, of course, to go with that we have a massive amount of delivery vans, a massive amount of vehicles, and that is just the chronic situation’.
Speaking to LBC, Mr Madderson added: ‘Early signs from our polls this morning show again that the Midlands, North and Scotland, are doing pretty well, and more and more of their filling stations are getting stock. There is far less stock out and far less surge buying.
‘Normality is creeping in to that part of the country, but London and the South-East are absolutely horrendous.’
The crisis in the capital saw one filling station charging desperate drivers nearly £3 a litre to fill up.
A Gulf station in west London was charging an eye-watering £2.93 a litre – almost double its normal £1.98.
Tory chairman Oliver Dowden said the Government was ‘working tirelessly’ to address fuel shortages
He told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday: ‘There is clearly a problem still in London and the South East and people feel deeply frustrated and I share their anger and frustration at not being able to get access to petrol.
‘That’s why the Government is working tirelessly to resolve that situation.’
Mr Dowden reiterated that the issue is not due to a lack of petrol, but with getting the fuel to forecourts.
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