London petrol stations: ‘We have no idea when we will get more fuel’

Several petrol station managers - who had run out of unleaded and diesel - told LondonWorld they had no idea when they would get any more fuel.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Petrol station bosses in London have said they have “no idea” when they will get any more fuel, LondonWorld can reveal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The manager of the BP station in Stanstead Road, Forest Hill, explained that it had run out both diesel and petrol.

He said: “We have no idea when we will get any more fuel, we haven’t been told anything.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The BP in Cambridge Heath, Tower Hamlets, also did not have any fuel and said it was left in the dark.

“We don’t know when we will get petrol, there has been no communication,” it said.

Many petrol stations in Glasgow have completely sold out of unleaded and diesel fuel.Many petrol stations in Glasgow have completely sold out of unleaded and diesel fuel.
Many petrol stations in Glasgow have completely sold out of unleaded and diesel fuel.

And the BP in Acton Green, Chiswick, also said that it had “no idea” when it would receive more petrol.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The fuel crisis has been caused by a shortage of HGV drivers.

Some lorry drivers moved back to their home countries after Brexit, while training was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic.

It is estimated that the UK is short of 100,000 HGV drivers.

A Shell garage employee holds a sign on the side of the road informing a queue of traffic that they do not have unleaded petrol on September 25, 2021 in Blackheath, London, United Kingdom. Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty ImagesA Shell garage employee holds a sign on the side of the road informing a queue of traffic that they do not have unleaded petrol on September 25, 2021 in Blackheath, London, United Kingdom. Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
A Shell garage employee holds a sign on the side of the road informing a queue of traffic that they do not have unleaded petrol on September 25, 2021 in Blackheath, London, United Kingdom. Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

This has meant it has taken longer for petrol to get to stations, which has been exacerbated by huge queues of people filling up their tanks in a panic.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Many garages have brought in £30 or £35 limits on how much petrol people can buy.

Several of the country’s fuel suppliers have now issued statements on the current situation at forecourts, however none could confirm how many petrol stations had run out.

Tesco confirmed it is experiencing “temporary outages in a small number of areas”, but it insisted it is not “rationing” fuel.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A spokesperson added: “We have good availability of fuel, and we’re working really hard to ensure regular deliveries to our petrol filling stations across the UK every day.”

A BP spokesman said: “We are experiencing fuel supply issues at some of our retail sites.

“This is being caused by a shortage of qualified drivers.

“The majority of the 1,200 sites we supply remain supplied and open.

“However, at the moment we estimate that 10 to 15% of sites in this network currently may not have one grade of fuel or another.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Shell said: “We are working hard to ensure supplies for customers.

“Since Friday we have been seeing a higher-than-normal demand across our network which is resulting in some sites running low on some grades.”

And Morrisons added: “It is a rapidly moving situation and we are working hard with our suppliers to ensure we can continue to keep our pumps open and serve our customers.”

Related topics: