Queues of cars snaked back from filling stations across the country on Sunday, swallowing up supplies and forcing many retailers to shut despite assurances from the government that the United Kingdom is not short of fuel, Al-Jazeera reported.
“Some of our members, large groups with a portfolio of sites, report 50 percent are dry as of yesterday, some even report as many as 90 percent are dry as of yesterday,” Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), told UK broadcaster Sky News on Monday.
The PRA represents independent fuel retailers, who account for 65 percent of all UK forecourts.
“So you can see it is quite acute,” Madderson said. “Monday morning is going to start pretty dry.”
Al Jazeera’s correspondent, reported from outside a petrol station in the capital, London, said people were attempting to stockpile fuel using jerry cans.
“The government has found itself in a big mess over this,” he said. “It has gotten out of control.”
ZZ/PR