This is why petrol stations are not capping the amount customers spend on fuel during panic buying crisis

Yet many other forecourts have chosen not to implement a cap - mainly due to fears it could lead to disorder.

There is a concern that limits could lead to ‘confrontation’ between staff and customers, chair of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) Brian Madderson said.

The PRA is the representative of independent fuel retailers who account for 65 per cent of all UK forecourts.

Mr Madderson told BBC Radio 4: “As soon as a tanker arrives at a filling station, people on social media are advising that a tanker has arrived and then it is like bees to a honey pot. Everyone flocks and within a few hours it is out again.

“It is panic buying when you go to fill up your car to the entirety of its tank capacity which you wouldn’t normally do. You would fill up, say, half. The average fill across the UK is about £25-worth. We have seen people filling up to £100-worth where they can.”

Asda confirmed that they had imposed the cap at their filling stations to manage high demand.

“To ensure as many customers as possible can refuel, we have put a temporary limit of £30 per transaction on our forecourts,” an Asda spokesperson said.

“We can reassure our customers that we have good levels of fuel supply and our sites will continue to receive deliveries daily. We ask that our customers be respectful of each other and our colleagues as we work through this period of increased demand.”

Mr Madderson said that PRA members were not putting a £30 cap on customers filling up at their stations and felt that prioritising key workers for fuel was ‘unworkable’ and a ‘very complex situation’.