Huge number of British gas stations ran dry Sunday, an industry group said, as motorists scrambled to fill up in the midst of a supply interruption because of a deficiency of truck drivers.
The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents very nearly 5,500 independent outlets, said around 66% of its individuals were detailing that they had sold out their fuel, with the rest “partly dry and running out soon.”
Association chairman Brian Madderson said the deficiencies were the result of “panic buying, pure and simple.”
“There is plenty of fuel in this country, but it is in the wrong place for the motorists,” he told the BBC. “It is still in the terminals and the refineries.”
Long lines of vehicles shaped at many gas stations over the weekend, and tempers frayed as certain drivers sat tight for hours. Police were called to one London gas station Sunday after a fight broke out. Police said a man was arrested on doubt of attack.
The haulage industry says the U.K. is short huge number of truckers, because of a powerful coincidence of factors including the Covid pandemic, an aging workforce and a mass migration of foreign workers following Britain’s Brexit takeoff from the European Union last year.
A few nations, including the United States and Germany, likewise are experiencing a deficiency of truck drivers. The issue has been particularly noticeable in Britain, where it has added to empty supermarket shelves and shuttered gas pumps.
After weeks of mounting pressure, the U.K’s. Conservative government declared Saturday that it will give large number of crisis visas to foreign truck drivers to assist with forestalling a Christmas without turkey or toys for some British families. The government said it would give 5,000 three-month visas for truck drivers beginning in October, and another 5,500 for poultry laborers.
Industry groups invited the new visa plan, albeit the British Retail Consortium said it was “too little, too late.”
Ruby McGregor-Smith, president of the Confederation of British Industry, said the announcement was “the equivalent of throwing a thimble of water on a bonfire.”