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The fuel shortages have forced Helen Dadd to miss out on her mother’s 98th birthday this weekend because she cannot risk running out of fuel.
Many filling stations in the UK are still dry following a week of fuel shortages and panic buying. The Army will be deployed today to start delivering fuel to petrol stations as ministers seek to gain control over the ongoing fuel supply crisis.
Senior government sources confirmed that British soldiers would begin transporting fuel to station forecourts after it became clear that the situation was not improving quickly enough. The decision comes after a week of major disruption that has seen motorists forced to queue for hours to fill up their vehicles.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said there were signs of the situation stabilising, but according to the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) improvement is happening “far too slowly”.
Helen Dadd filled up with petrol today at Stansted Mountfitchet BP filling station on Friday but she is missing out on her mother’s 98th birthday party today due to fear of not being able to fill up again next week.
“I can’t go to the family outing because I’m too worried about not having the petrol,” she told i. “I have other trips to do backwards and forwards next week and I can’t risk a half a tank going to Clacton in Essex. She’s 98 and it’s very upsetting.”
Ms Dadd said the fuel shortages have “been a worry” because she has just sold her house and it currently staying with her daughter so needs to drive around a lot.
“I think it’s been worse over these last few days because all the garages down the road are all shut and this is the only one where you can get any petrol at all,” she said.
Pumps running dry causes ‘mayhem’ for postal deliveries
The fuel shortages have been causing mayhem for Royal Mail workers who need to fill up regularly.
A postman who serves Newport, Essex, who asked not to be named, told i: “The queue at the garage is a block in the road and we can’t get in to get our fuel.
“It’s the traffic disrupting the roads as well. The buses can’t get through because people are queueing for fuel. It’s mayhem.”
He questioned whether “Boris and his cronies are really making things better” because “everything is grinding to a halt at the moment”.
He said some employees have to get into work early to queue and fill up the vans in the morning, meaning they are working longer hours.
It has been “getting worse” over the past week, he said. “It does restrict your day. It makes you a little bit more paranoid about what you do. But luckily, I just leave the van somewhere and walk around so I try not to use too much fuel.”
Mike Robinson has also been impacted by the fuel shortages but was able to fill up at a Gulf petrol station in Newport, Essex.
He told i: “I live in Hampshire I do surveys for people with damage. I’ve come up here to do an important survey but it’s a risk wherever I go. I’ve come along the M25 and the M24 and there’s no fuel on the motorways.
“Round our way in Berkshire if anyone’s got fuel there’s half a mile queue. Not literally, but it is hundreds of metres long. It’s very difficult to get petrol.”
Mr Robinson has had to vary which jobs he can take on to preserve fuel. He said: “I knew I had to do this survey today because it was important so I made sure that I cut out other smaller calls to save enough fuel to get me here and back.”
He said Boris Johnson and Grant Schapps are “absolute idiots” and added: “Boris Johnson just talks out the top of his head all the time. He’s got no idea what’s going on, he’s useless.”
Gareth Pavey, a service engineer who drives for a living, said as he filled up his car on Friday: “I’m 60 miles from home with quarter of a tank left so I need to get fuel anywhere I can.”
Mr Pavey has struggled to find a garage that takes his fuel card which means he can claim the money back from his employer. He usually has to go to Shell garages but they are mostly out of fuel, he said.
“I actually think it most places restricted the amount of fuel you can put in your car to £30 or something like that then it would be all right,” he said.
ITU nurse Anna Farrell said one of her colleagues ran out of petrol just before she reached a filling station and her car ground to a halt. She had to get a taxi to rescue her and take her to pump to fill up a jerry can.
There is a shortage of workers partly due to Brexit which caused many European HGV drivers to move elsewhere as additional border checks impacted their income. The Covid-19 pandemic also led to workers returning to their home countries.
There is also a backlog in HGV drivers waiting to take their tests due to pandemic delays. But many UK drivers have complained of poor working conditions and said that they are quitting the profession due to low pay, long hours, and bad treatment from employers.
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