Panicked motorists have caused lengthy queues at petrol stations for a second day – as an industry expert predicted the “catastrophic situation” is going to get worse before it improves.
Long lines of cars continued to form at forecourts across the country on Saturday after a shortage of HGV drivers forced some fuel retailers to shut their pumps and ration sales.
The petrol problems come after retailers warned a solution to the lack of truckers must be found within days to avoid “significant disruption” in the run-up to Christmas.
Image: Motorists queue for petrol in Brockley, south London
Image: A man was seen carrying containers at a petrol station in Bracknell, Berkshire
Sky News understands that Boris Johnson has allowed minsters to relax immigration rules and up to 5,000 temporary visas could be issued to foreign lorry drivers.
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Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, described the panic buying as a “catastrophic situation” and said he had witnessed queues up to a mile long at forecourts.
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He told Sky News: “There’s enough fuel at the refineries and terminals to supply the normal demand.
“What we have at the moment is abnormal demand where everyone is rushing to fill up their vehicles.”
He added: “It is a crisis situation that has developed very quickly.”
Mr Madderson warned that the panic buying of fuel risked impacting key workers trying to get to work.
“I think this situation is going to get worse before it gets better,” he added.
An announcement on the temporary visa scheme aimed at HGV drivers is expected this weekend, with Number 10 insisting any move would be “very strictly time-limited”.
The UK is facing a shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers, according to the Road Haulage Association.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the country had “ample fuel stocks” and insisted “there are no shortages”.
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Motorists face lengthy wait for fuel at forecourt
But Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner criticised the government for the “crisis now on our forecourts”.
She told Sky News: “People have started to panic buy fuel and I would urge people not to do that because that will only make the situation worse.
“But this is of the government’s own doing and their failures.”
Image: Fuel pumps ran dry at this Shell garage in Isleworth, west London
She added: “It’s a theme that we have with this government – they constantly do things at the last minute, at the last possible point, and create the crisis in the first place.
“Once again Boris Johnson and his government have basically decided to have a laissez-faire attitude and hope that things will just fix themselves.
“Well, they haven’t fixed themselves and their policies have come home to roost for the British public.”
Lincolnshire Police urged drivers to be “sensible” about filling up at petrol stations after long queues for the pumps built up around the region.
Esso, BP and Tesco forecourts have been affected by problems getting petrol deliveries.
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Queues overnight at petrol stations
BP said around 20 of its 1,200 petrol forecourts were closed due to a lack of available fuel, with between 50 and 100 sites affected by the loss of at least one grade of fuel.
A “small number” of Tesco refilling stations have also been impacted, said Esso owner ExxonMobil, which runs the sites.
On Friday, the EG Group, which has around 400 petrol stations in the UK, said it was imposing a £30 limit “due to the current unprecedented customer demand for fuel”.
Pizza Hut is to close 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites with the loss of more than 1,200 jobs after the company behind its UK venues fell into administration.
The company has said 1,210 workers are being made redundant as part of the closures.
DC London Pie, the firm running Pizza Hut’s restaurants in the UK, appointed administrators from corporate finance firm FTI on Monday.
It comes less than a year after the business bought the chain’s restaurants from insolvency.
On Monday, American hospitality giant Yum! Brands, which owns the global Pizza Hut business, said it had bought the UK restaurant operation in a pre-pack administration deal – a rescue deal that will save 64 sites and secure the future of 1,276 workers.
A spokesperson for Pizza Hut UK confirmed the Yum! deal and said as a result it was “pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs.
“Approximately 2,259 team members will transfer to the new Yum! equity business under UK TUPE legislation, including above-restaurant leaders and support teams.”
Nicolas Burquier, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Europe and Canada, called Monday’s agreement a “targeted acquisition” which, he said, “aims to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible.
“Our immediate priority is operational continuity at the acquired locations and supporting colleagues through the transition.”
The administration came after HMRC filed a winding up petition on Friday against DC London Pie.
DC London Pie was the company formed after Directional Capital, which operated franchises in Sweden and Denmark, snapped up 139 UK restaurants from the previous UK franchisee Heart with Smart Limited in January of this year.
Staff at the Bank of England are on alert for potential job cuts in Threadneedle Street after the governor, Andrew Bailey, warned of tough decisions about the institution’s future cost base.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Bailey informed Bank of England employees in a memo last week that it was taking a detailed look at costs, although it did not specifically refer to the prospect of redundancies.
One source said the memo had been sent while Mr Bailey was attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington.
Its precise wording was unclear on Monday, but one source said it had warned of “tough choices” that would need to be made as the bank accelerated its investment in new technology.
They added that managers had been briefed to expect to have to make savings of between 6% and 8% of their operating budgets.
The Bank of England employed 5,810 people at the end of February, of whom just over 5,000 were full-time, according to its annual report.
Those numbers were marginally higher than in the previous year.
The central bank’s budget, funded through a levy, is expected to be £596m in the current financial year.
The workforce figures include the Prudential Regulation Authority, Britain’s main banking regulator, which is set to get a new boss next year when Sam Woods steps down after two terms in the role.
A Bank of England spokesperson declined to comment on the contents of Mr Bailey’s memo.
They also declined to provide details of the timing of any previous rounds of redundancies at the bank.
Pizza Hut is to close 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites with the loss of more than 1,200 jobs after the company behind its UK venues fell into administration.
The company has said 1,210 workers are being made redundant as part of the closures.
DC London Pie, the firm running Pizza Hut’s restaurants in the UK, appointed administrators from corporate finance firm FTI on Monday.
It comes less than a year after the business bought the chain’s restaurants from insolvency.
On Monday, American hospitality giant Yum! Brands, which owns the global Pizza Hut business, said it had bought the UK restaurant operation in a pre-pack administration deal – a rescue deal that will save 64 sites and secure the future of 1,276 workers.
A spokesperson for Pizza Hut UK confirmed the Yum! deal and said as a result it was “pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs.
“Approximately 2,259 team members will transfer to the new Yum! equity business under UK TUPE legislation, including above-restaurant leaders and support teams.”
Nicolas Burquier, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Europe and Canada, called Monday’s agreement a “targeted acquisition” which, he said, “aims to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible.
“Our immediate priority is operational continuity at the acquired locations and supporting colleagues through the transition.”
The administration comes around six weeks after a subsidiary of Yum! filed a winding up petition against DC London Pie.
DC London Pie was the company formed after Directional Capital, which operated franchises in Sweden and Denmark, snapped up 139 UK restaurants from the previous UK franchisee Heart with Smart Limited in January of this year.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.