By Teddy Nwanunobi
Fuel retailers, under the umbrella of Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), have warned that shortages at petrol stations across London and the South-East will remain “serious” due to fuel not being delivered where it is needed most.
The PRA said that a “large majority” of filling stations do not know when their next delivery will be, leading to uncertainty at the pumps.
The leader of the association, Brian Madderson, said that the situation in London and the South-East “remains serious”.
“There are many reports of wet sites quickly going dry because the continuity of tankers remains out of kilter with orders,” he explained.
In recent weeks, fuel supply has steadily increased in parts of the north, however in London, the East of England and the South-East, supplies have been running out much quicker.
“The situation in London and the South-East “remains serious”
Madderson said that the reason for this disparity is because pumps in these areas are used more frequently than elsewhere.
He also said the crisis is heightened in these areas as there are more cars to be filled per station than the GB average.
Madderson has called for these pumps to be refueled more often to ease the pressures at forecourts.
“The need to refuel filling stations in London and the South East is even more necessary when customers panic buy, because there are more cars to be filled per station there than the GB average,” he said.
However, he said there had been “a welcome improvement” in the region over the weekend with 10 per cent of non-motorway sites running out of fuel, which was “not far behind the rest of the country”.
Figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) show that filling station storage tanks in the South East – including London – were 16 per cent full at the end of the day on Sunday October 3, compared with 25 per cent across the whole of Britain.
The fuel crisis started when BP announced on September 23 that it would have to close a handful of its petrol stations, causing a surge in demand.
Military drivers, numbering 151, have since been deployed to deliver fuel, according to the government.
“Thanks to interventions we have made, forecourt stocks have substantially improved in all regions of the UK. We continue to work closely with industry to help increase stocks further.
“As the industry has said, we have ample fuel reserves and the return of normal buying habits by the public has reduced the exceptional demand seen in previous weeks,” a government spokesman said.