Police close down filling stations as Yorkshire pumps run dry

In Ilkley, where there are two petrol stations, one had run dry while, on the opposite side of the road, queues were forming at the second station.

A motorist was asked to leave the forecourt of one after he snatched the pump out of the hand of a female driver, an eyewitness said.

Elsewhere, queues were reported in Huddersfield as some pumps ran dry, and across forecourts in Leeds.

At a Shell forecourt in Moortown, Leeds, there was a queue of 20 cars. One van driver said he had been waiting for 30 minutes to get fuel. Only four of the 12 pumps were dispensing fuel as motorists waited patiently.

In Harrogate, a forecourt on the outskirts of the town had run out of fuel by 11.30am.

In Rotherham, there was a queue for fuel at Asda in the Eastwood area of the town. A marshal in a fluorescent jacket was directing motorists as they queued for pumps. There were six or seven vehicles waiting to get into the forecourt, an eyewitness said.

In Dorset, police have stepped in to close down filling stations. Chief Inspector Nick Maton said: “There is no disruption to the fuel supply in the UK and members of the public should not panic buy.

“The actions of some motorists in queuing irresponsibly at petrol stations is causing danger to other road users.

“Police are taking action, requesting petrol stations to close temporarily in order to keep traffic flowing.

“Once the queues have dispersed, the petrol stations may reopen for short periods.”

Petrol sales shot up by 81% and diesel by 43%, according to the Petrol Retailers Association, which represents around 5,500 garages across the UK.

A spokesman blamed advice from the Government on keeping tanks topped up, including the much-criticised call by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude to fill up jerry cans.

“This is exactly what we didn’t want - people panic buying. Deliveries are still being made to garages and we are advising people to continue with their normal buying habits.”

Motoring organisations laid the blame for the panic buying firmly at the door of the government.

AA president Edmund King said: “There is no fuel tanker strike and therefore if drivers followed normal fuel buying patterns there would be no fuel shortage whatsoever.

“We now have self-inflicted shortages due to poor advice about topping up the tank and hoarding in jerry cans. This in turn has led to localised shortages, queues and some profiteering at the pumps.”

Meanwhile, mves to start peace talks aimed at averting a strike will be stepped up today, with the conciliation service Acas trying to arrange a meeting between the Unite union and seven companies involved in the dispute.

Unite will have to give seven days’ notice of any industrial action, so it was looking increasingly unlikely that strikes will be threatened over Easter.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey urged people to take “precautions”, and defended Mr Maude’s handling of the situation.

He said: “Francis has been playing a key role in getting the Government’s preparations ready.

“If you are at the meetings that I’m at with Francis Maude, with Liberal Democrat colleagues and Conservative colleagues, we’ve come together really strongly to make sure our country, our economy, isn’t hit by what could be a damaging strike.

“People should take precautions, just in the way the Government has taken precautions doing some sensible planning.”