British army to start driving tankers as queues for fuel continue in London

LONDON (REUTERS) - British soldiers will start driving tankers to replenish empty pumps, as drivers queued again for fuel on Wednesday (Sept 29) as the strain on fuel supplies continued despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation was improving.

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 that they did not have enough truck 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.

"The last few days have been difficult, we've seen large queues. But I think the situation is stabilising, we're getting petrol into the forecourts. I think we're going to see our way through this," Mr Kwarteng said.

Mr Johnson has sought to quell public concerns, saying supplies were returning to normal while also urging people not to panic-buy. But in many regions, hundreds of forecourts remained closed and motorists were still snarled in queues waiting to fill their tanks.

A shortage of around 100,000 drivers has sown chaos through supply chains and raised the spectre of empty shelves and price increases at Christmas.

Asked if he could guarantee that there would not be problems in the run-up to the busy retail period, Mr Kwarteng said: "I'm not guaranteeing anything. All I'm saying is that, I think the situation is stabilising."

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 in filling their cars to keep hospitals and social care services running, a move Mr Johnson has resisted.

The government has put 150 British army tanker drivers on standby, and media reports suggested they could be deployed in the next few days.

Industry groups said the worst of the fuel shortages seemed to be in London, the south-east and other English cities.

Fights have broken out at some forecourts as drivers jostled for fuel and pictures on social media showed some people filling up old water bottles with fuel.

The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents independent fuel retailers that account for about two-thirds of all the 8,380 British forecourts, said on Tuesday that 37 per cent of its members' petrol stations were out of fuel.

The shortages have added to an air of chaos in the world's fifth-largest economy after a dearth of truck drivers throughout the economy left gaps on supermarket shelves, while a spike in European wholesale natural gas prices has 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

"What we want to do is make sure that we have all the preparations necessary to get through until Christmas and beyond, not just in supplying the petrol stations but all parts of our supply chain," Mr Johnson said.

Hauliers, petrol stations and retailers say there are no quick fixes as the shortfall of drivers is so acute, and transporting fuel demands training and licensing. European drivers may also be reluctant to take up the visa offer, which only lasts until Dec 24.