- Title: Drone, go-pro show extent of queues at UK fuel stations
- Date: 29th September 2021
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 29, 2021) (REUTERS) DRONE VIEW OF VEHICLES QUEUING ALONG ROAD FOR FUEL (MUTE) GO-PRO VIEW OF VEHICLES QUEUING FOR FUEL VEHICLES STATIONARY IN QUEUE DRONE VIEW OF VEHICLES QUEUING ALONG ROAD FOR FUEL (MUTE) VEHICLES MOVING SLOWLY IN QUEUE / VEHICLES STATIONARY IN QUEUE VEHICLES IN QUEUE VEHICLES AT SHELL FUEL STATION HAND-WRITTEN SIGN, READING (English): "Sorry no fuel" CAR WAITING IN QUEUE VARIOUS OF MOTORIST PUTTING FUEL IN CAR DIGITS ON FUEL PRICE GAUGE INCREASING AS FUEL IS PUMPED INTO CAR VEHICLES IN QUEUE / SHELL STATION DRONE VIEW OF VEHICLES QUEUING ALONG ROAD FOR FUEL (MUTE) SIGN, READING (English): "Ebury Street SW1" / SHELL STATION VARIOUS OF SIGN, READING (English): "Sorry, fuel is temporarily unavailable" VARIOUS OF SIGNS, READING (English): "Sorry out of use" ON FUEL PUMPS CARS QUEUING OUTSIDE SHELL STATION CARS IN SHELL STATION VARIOUS OF MOTORISTS FILLING UP TANKS QUEUE OUTSIDE SHELL STATION MOVING SLOWLY MOTORIST SEATED IN VEHICLE QUEUE MOVING SLOWLY CYCLISTS RIDING BY STATIONARY QUEUE POLICE OFFICER GESTURING POLICE OFFICERS ON MOTORBIKES ESCORTING CAR
- Embargoed: 13th October 2021 14:12
- Keywords: Britain drone fuel stations long lines petrol shortages truckers
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EWRWWNB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Britain's fuel supply crisis which has led to pumps running dry and huge queues outside filling stations is easing with more forecourts reporting deliveries, an industry group said on Wednesday (September 29).
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents independent retailers who account for about two-thirds of all the 8,380 UK filling stations, said only 27% of members reported being out of fuel and it expected the situation to further improve in the next 24 hours.
Britain has been gripped by a rush of panic buying for almost a week that has left pumps dry across major cities, after oil companies warned they did not have enough tanker drivers to move petrol and diesel from refineries to filling stations.
Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said 150 soldiers had been mobilised, and would be driving tankers within a few days.
He said the government's reserve tanker fleet, which numbers 80 vehicles according to a 2019 assessment, would be operating by later in the day, driven by civilians, to help deliver fuel across the country.
By the early morning rush hour there were already long queues of cars in and around London and on the busy M25 orbital motorway circling the capital. Signs were up at some sites announcing no fuel was available.
The gridlock has sparked calls for doctors, nurses and other essential workers to be given priority access to fuel, a move Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted.
Industry groups said the worst of the shortages seemed to be in London, the southeast and other English cities. Fights have broken out as drivers jostled.
The shortages have added to an air of chaos in the world's fifth-largest economy, leaving gaps on supermarket shelves. A spike in European wholesale natural gas prices has also tipped energy companies into bankruptcy.
Britain left the EU single market at the start of this year, preventing hauliers from recruiting drivers in the bloc. To tackle the shortage, the government has said it will issue temporary visas to 5,000 foreign drivers, a measure it had previously ruled out.
(Production: Will Russell, Gerry Mey, Jonathan Shenfield, Lucy Marks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
