UK may need army to tackle fuel shortage as nine in 10 petrol stations run dry

Drivers in the UK have to join lengthy queues at petrol stations across the country

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Monday considering calling in the army to drive fuel tankers as petrol stations prepared for their fifth day of panic buying.

The government on Sunday evening triggered emergency measures amid a warning from the Petrol Retailers Association that up to 90 per cent of forecourts had run dry.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng suspended competition laws for the fuel industry which will allow suppliers to top up rival sites if stocks are running low.

However, Brian Madderson, chairman of the PRA, said while the decision would be welcomed by the industry, it was unlikely to be a game-changer.

Mr Johnson was expected to make a decision on whether the military should be called in to drive oil tankers amid a chronic shortage of heavy-goods vehicle drivers, reports said.

The Times quoted a senior government source suggesting ministers were keen to deploy soldiers within days, rather than wait for the problem to get worse.

The UK is suffering from a severe shortage of lorry drivers, which has made it difficult for suppliers to deliver enough fuel to stations.

On Saturday, ministers announced a temporary visa scheme, to allow 5,000 foreign heavy-goods vehicle drivers to work in the UK on three-month contracts in the lead up to Christmas.

However, some figures in the industry said it was just a short-term fix and would not stamp out the shortages in the long run.

Mac Fels, director of HGV Recruitment Centre, said the overseas workers are “not going to make a very large dent on the 90,000-100,000 that we are perceived to be short”.

Announcing the suspension of competition laws, Mr Kwarteng said: “We have long-standing contingency plans in place to work with industry so that fuel supplies can be maintained and deliveries can still be made in the event of a serious disruption.

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  A petrol station at Colliers Woods, in London. Fuel delivery problems in the UK have led to panic buying and shortages at the pumps. Rob Greig for The National

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  The UK is suffering supply chain problems with some empty shelves in supermarkets, exacerbated by a shortage of HGV drivers, sparking fears that a petrol shortage is around the corner. Rob Greig for The National

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  Some people spent have hours queuing for petrol. Rob Greig for The National

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  UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there was enough petrol if drivers filled up as normal. Rob Greig for The National

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  Plans to offer 5,000 three-month visas for lorry drivers were “insufficient” to address supply issues in the lead up to Christmas, retail and haulage industry leaders said. Rob Greig for The National

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  Mr Shapps has accused haulage industry leaders of “manufacturing the crisis” so that they can employ cheaper drivers from Europe. Rob Greig for The National

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  The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated a global shortage of lorry drivers. Rob Greig for The National

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  A petrol station in Sheffield, England. UK motorists are being advised to keep a quarter of a tank of fuel in their vehicles after a shortage of lorry drivers disrupted deliveries. Photo: PA

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  A petrol station in Sheffield, England is closed after running out of fuel. Photo: PA

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  People queue for petrol and diesel at a supermarket in the UK. Photo: Getty

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  Motorists queue for fuel at a supermarket filling station in Manchester, England. Photo: Reuters

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  Motorists queue for petrol at a supermarket service station in Tonbridge, south-east England. Photo: AFP

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  A tanker delivers fuel to a petrol station in Liverpool, England. Photo: PA

“While there has always been and continues to be plenty of fuel at refineries and terminals, we are aware that there have been some issues with supply chains.

“This is why we will enact the Downstream Oil Protocol to ensure industry can share vital information and work together more effectively to ensure disruption is minimised.”

Mr Madderson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the problem is concentrated in urban areas of England, Wales and Scotland.

He said one petrol station on Sunday received a delivery in the morning and by the afternoon “the entire tanker had disappeared in people’s cars”.

He said he hoped supply issues would be “less of a problem by the end of this week” and added weight to the prime minister’s plan to use soldiers, saying troops were being trained “in the background” to drive HGVs.

“One of our members whose got a very large site, he reported 500 per cent more volume sales last Saturday than the previous,” he told Sky News this morning.

“So people have not been going and buying their normal £20 and £30 to get them through the week, they’ve actually been topping up every time.

“And of course with 36 million vehicles on the road, capacity in their tanks is way more than we have underground on the full.”

Mr Madderson said between 50 and 90 per cent of forecourts that are members of the PRA, which represents the majority of petrol stations in Britain, had run out of fuel.

BP said on Sunday that nearly a third of its petrol stations had run out of the two main grades of fuel.

Last week drivers were told to keep a quarter tank full to avoid running out of fuel mid-journey.

Tempers frayed at a petrol station in south London on Monday morning as dozens of drivers, many of them late for work, lined up to fill their tanks.

Some 40 vehicles were queueing outside Texaco in Wandsworth Road when The National visited during rush hour.

Arguments broke out in the forecourt between angry customers, many of whom had been waiting for an hour, as people tried to get in and out as quickly as possible.

Alex Berry, who runs a painting and decorating business, said it was unfair that some motorists had stocked up on fuel they didn’t immediately need while leaving nothing for those who did.

“The traffic is chaos,” said Mr Berry from Stockwell.

“I came out to pick something up and then realised I need fuel. Right now I am an hour and a half late.

“The panic buying is dreadful for people like myself and cab drivers.

“There are people who have just filled up to park outside their house, and we need it as a necessity.”

Others stuck in the traffic jam along the main road included an NHS worker, a builder and elderly men and women.

The PRA boss pointed the finger of blame at the whistle-blower who leaked a report about HGV driver shortages last week, setting off “mayhem” at the pumps.

He claimed the issue was “entirely well contained at that point by the industry and by government who were moving towards some solution”.

Meanwhile France’s minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune has blamed Brexit for the fuel crisis blighting Britain.

On Monday he said the problems affecting motorists across the country reflected the "intellectual fraud" that was Brexit.

"Every day, we see the intellectual fraud that was Brexit," Mr Beaune told France 2 television.