Frenzied scenes as fuel runs out at garage pumps
ASHBOURNE has not escaped the frenzied scenes as panic buyers piling into petrol stations led to a national shortage of fuel.
Deliveries of petrol and diesel arrived at the town’s forecourts yesterday after a “crazy” day of long queues for the pumps on Monday led to supplies drying out.
Prestons Garage, in Derby Road, was the only forecourt open for business by the end of Monday and, while its diesel pumps had served up its last drops, there was still unleaded and super unleaded fuel available.
Lumbards Garage in Compton, and Duke of York in Mayfield Road each dried up entirely of fuel but their shops remained open, while Dove Service Station closed entirely.
However the pumps were serving again yesterday, after tankers arrived, but staff at the stations said they were bracing for another busy few days as more motorists arrived to stock up from the early hours.
A spokesman for Lumbards said on Monday: “It’s been manic here, it all started on Friday, they’ve been queuing all weekend. It’s been a bit mad, I’m afraid. “But we’re hoping for a delivery tomorrow, so we should be ready to go again by then.”
Filling stations in the wider area have also been expecting deliveries after running dry, with several tankers arriving overnight to top up forecourt storage tanks. By Tuesday morning, the Texaco filling station at Five Lamps, in Derby, was fully restocked and Tibshelf services on the M1 had also been resupplied with fuel.
Monday saw chaotic scenes around the county, as fuel retailers were forced to bring in marshals, introduce spending limits, and control long queues as they struggled to keep up with the sudden demand for fuel. The crisis was initially caused by concerns over a shortage of specialist lorry drivers across the UK to transport fuel from refineries to petrol stations. This triggered panic buying across the country, despite the fact that there has been and remains no shortage of fuel at refineries. The Government announced on Monday that it would be putting dozens of Army tanker drivers on standby to combat the crisis which has caused shortages and forced some filling stations to close their forecourts and leaving key workers in a state of anxiety.
Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng said: “The UK continues to have strong supplies of fuel, however we are aware of supply chain issues and are taking steps to ease these as a matter of priority.
“If required, the deployment of military personnel will provide the supply chain with additional capacity as a temporary measure to help ease pressures caused by spikes in localised demand for fuel.”
It’s been a bit manic here, it all started on Friday, they’ve been queuing all weekend.
Lumbards spokesman