Panic buying leads to fuel shortages at petrol stations

[dutchman]

Panic buying saw queuing and fuel shortages on petrol station forecourts in Coventry and Warwickshire.



News of a possible strike by tanker drivers and warnings from politicians has seen queuing backed up at a number of main fuel stations in the city.

The Shell garage in Kenilworth Road, Balsall Common, ran out of unleaded petrol last night.

Staff say they are expecting a delivery at around midday.

The Tesco garage at Arena Park, Coventry, has seen long queues snaking off its forecourt this morning and with signs on several pumps saying they had run out of diesel.

Motorists were queuing to get in to the Sainsbury’s petrol station Tile Hill on Wednesday night.

One driver said motorists were filling up cars and jerry cans.

“It was causing absolute chaos,” she said.

“People were driving on, seeing this enormous queue on to the forecourt and then trying to get off back out on to the junction.”

There appeared to be panic buying of food at Morrison's yesterday as well?

[dutchman]

Panic stations: Gridlock as worried drivers queue for petrol



Massive queues and sold out signs hit petrol stations as panic buying well and truly arrived in Coventry and Warwickshire.

There was gridlock around many garages as queues blocked roads and carriageways over fears of a possible strike by fuel tanker drivers.

West Midlands Fire Service called for restraint as motorists filled up throughout the day and into the evening.

Asda Service Station at Walsgrave ran out of diesel, the Shell garage in Balsall Common ran out of petrol while the Shell garage in Kenilworth ran dry altogether.

Tailbacks caused delays in and around Tesco service station at Arena Park as well as Sainsbury’s service station at Canley.

Meanwhile, Asda service station at Whitley had run out of unleaded petrol by 4pm.

It came a day after petrol sales rocketed by 83 per cent and diesel by 53 per cent, according to the Retail Motor Industry Federation.

A political storm at Westminster – in which the government said drivers should top up tanks, but “not panic” – led to cabinet minister Francis Maude suggesting motorists store fuel in jerry cans.

Labour accused the minister of “panicking people all around the country”.

There were long queues snaking up to the carriageway from the BP services on the Stonebridge Highway and the BP garage on Lockhurst Lane, Foleshill.

Drivers even reported seeing motorists filling up jerry cans at Sainsbury’s station on Fletchamstead Highway, Tile Hill, which ran out of diesel.

A member of staff at Sainsbury’s services in Tachbrook Park Drive, Leamington, said: “We’ve had deliveries this afternoon but people will just have to join the queue.

“How long it’s going to last, I just don’t know.”

Later in the day, reports emerged Unite the Union and road hauliers could be edging closer to peace talks in the dispute over working conditions.

[StevieG]

This pantomime could only happen in this country

[rebbonk]

This guy sums it up for me

[Spuffler]

Stevie G said pantomime - well, what do you expect when we have clowns for a government?

[dutchman]

This is one mess the Tories can't blame on everyone else, it's entirely of their own making.

[Spuffler]

As is the economy heading into recession again! They were warned not to cut too quickly. It's like a carpenter who buys a load of machinery on hire purchase, to speed his output and make more profit; then decides he can't afford the machinery, wells it off, but still has the hire purchase to pay off - and no longer the means to work faster and make more money. If the government keep putting people on the dole, and cutting pay, they get a lot less in taxes, so the deficit increases - as it has - instead of falling. But they're too damned thick and stubborn to modify their policies.

And anyway, it doesn't wash blaming Labour for the deficit - what about the reckless, fraudulent bankers? Would the Tories have let major banks go bust? Of course not! They would have had to do the same thing as Labour did. And as for regulation, it was Thatcher who removed much of it, and Cameron and Co were demanding even less regulation when they were in opposition. One thing that needles me is that in the US, something like 50 bankers have been prosecuted for their fraudulent behaviour. But here? Rewarded for it!

[dutchman]

Fuel strike: government fails to calm panic buying

The Government's attempt to calm worried motorists appeared to have had little effect on Saturday as the country endured a third day of panic buying at the pumps.

Thousands of drivers across the country continued to rush to forecourts to fill up their petrol tanks, ignoring pleas for restraint from ministers.

The AA reported fresh incidents of motorists using "desperate and dangerous" attempts to store petrol although panic buying was said to be receding.

One woman tried to fill two one-gallon glass flagons with petrol at a station in South Wales. The pump nozzle was bigger than the neck of the flagon and she spilt petrol on the ground.

Queues were particularly bad in Coventry and Liverpool, where motorists at BP stations waited for up to an hour to fill up their tank.

Edmund King, AA president urged calm and advised drivers to revert to their normal fuel buying patterns.

[dutchman]

Bishop attacks 'scaremongering prat' Maude

An outspoken Church of England bishop who ridiculed the Royal family and predicted that Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton would only last seven years this weekend attacked cabinet office minister Francis Maude, controversially describing him a “scaremongering prat.”

The Right Rev Peter Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden and acting Archdeacon of Northolt, took to Twitter on Friday to call for the Tory cabinet minister’s resignation after a woman set fire to herself in York while decanting petrol at home. Mr Broadbent wrote on his public page: “Tory clueless petrol advice leads to woman setting fire to herself in York. Perhaps they expected the servants to do it? Resign, Maude!”

Confronted with sceptical tweets, which questioned the link between the incident and the cabinet minister’s earlier advice, Mr Broadbent replied: “Who was the scaremongering prat who told her to stock up with jerrycans? You don't store petrol at home. End of.”

The bishop is no novice to social networking sites. In 2010, he was suspended from the ministry after a tirade on his Facebook page outraged MPs and church members. He said he could not stand the “nauseating tosh” surrounding the Royal Wedding and described Prince Charles and Princess Diana as “Big Ears and the Porcelain Doll.”