SOME garages in Hereford are still short of fuel, a week after panic buying started.
The crisis began last week after reports that a shortage of tanker drivers had led a number of BP stations to close, which triggered a wave of panic buying which has yet to fully subside.
Three petrol stations in Hereford have no fuel, and many more are short of either petrol or diesel.
Here's what the situation was like as at 10am:
Asda, Belmont Road
Closed
Belmont Tesco, Abbotsmead Road.
No diesel
Esso, Ledbury Road (Tesco Express)
No fuel, shop open
Texaco, Ledbury Road
No diesel, £35 maximum spend
Texaco, Commercial Road
Open, £30 maximum spend
Co-op, Holmer Road
No fuel, shop open
Sainsbury's, off Whitecross Road
Open
Shell, Whitecross Road
Open
Rotherwas Service Station (BP)
Open
Hinton Service Station
Awaiting update
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Motorists could face another “week or so” of long queues at the filling stations as demand for petrol remains strong, a Government minister has warned.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse said there needs to be an “improvement” in the situation in the coming days and that Boris Johnson stands ready to review matters if there is any deterioration.
His downbeat assessment contrasted sharply with comments by other ministers in recent days that the situation would swiftly return to normal as drivers resumed their usual buying patterns.
It follows a warning by the Petrol Retailers Association that filling stations were running out of fuel faster than they could be resupplied, with one in four forecourts having run dry.
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Mr Malthouse told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “We are still seeing strong demand in parts of the country around fuel. The distribution mechanism is trying to respond to this unprecedented demand.
“My latest briefing is that the situation is stabilising, that we are seeing more forecourts with a greater supply of fuel and hopefully that, as demand and supply come better into balance over the next few days, week or so, that we will see a return to normality.
“I think if things started to deteriorate further, obviously the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Energy, whose responsibility this is, will have to review the situation.”
His comments came just 24 hours after another minister – Treasury Chief Secretary Simon Clarke – claimed the situation was “absolutely back under control”.
Earlier this week Mr Johnson ruled out granting priority access to fuel to healthcare staff on the grounds that it was unnecessary as the situation was “stabilising”.
However Mr Malthouse said there were “pockets” of the country where there were still problems – with London and the South East reported to be among the hardest hit.
He said efforts were being made to balance out the situation with areas where supplies were strong, but he indicated they were being constrained by the numbers of tankers available.
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