Boris Johnson suggests no plans to prioritise key workers at the fuel pumps
Boris Johnson has suggested key workers such as medics and carers will not get priority to refuel at petrol stations as the situation was now “stabilising”.
When asked if any such plan was being considered, the prime minister said: “I understand people saying that, but with the situation now stabilising, with things getting better on the forecourt, the best thing is that… we stabilise it in the normal way.”
Fuel supply crisis – latest live updates
A closed sign on the forecourt of a petrol station in Leeds
Following days of chaos, with long queues for petrol and stations running dry, Mr Johnson said he understood the frustration felt by drivers as they struggled to fill up.
However, he said the indications from the fuel industry were that the situation was beginning to improve with supplies returning to normal levels.
“On the forecourts the situation is stabilising and people should be confident and just go about their business in the normal way,” he said.
“What we want to do is that we make sure we have all the preparations necessary to get through Christmas and beyond, not just supplying the petrol stations but all parts of our supply chain.”
Despite this, motorists are still facing long queues at filling stations, with fights reportedly breaking out on some forecourts as petrol pumps run dry and limits on sales are imposed.
The prime minister suggested the panic buying was sparked by a “misleading account” in a leak.
“I think that what happened with the petrol pump business is that unfortunately there was a slightly misleading account of something which got leaked and caused a totally understandable surge in demand.”
Army tanker drivers have been put on a state of readiness should they be needed to ease the chaos on fuel supply chains.
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Cars jam up roads to the pumps
Earlier, industry members said there were “early signs” the crisis is coming to an end.
Esso said the situation at 200 sites it operates which include a Tesco Express shop, had “stabilised” and things appeared to be “improving in terms of fuel availability”.
And the Petrol Retailers’ Association said an increasing number of its members are now “reporting taking further deliveries of fuel”.
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It added: “We have conducted a survey of our members this morning and only 37% of forecourts have reported being out of fuel today.
“With regular restocks taking place, this percentage is likely to improve further over the next 24 hours.
“There are early signs that the crisis at pumps is ending.”
However, Sir Keir Starmer accused the government of reducing the country to “chaos” through its failure to deal with the fuel crisis.
The Labour leader said the haulage industry was “beyond frustrated” at the lack of a clear plan by ministers to alleviate the problems caused by the shortage of tanker drivers.
“The government has reduced the country to chaos as we track from crisis to crisis. The government is not gripping this,” he said.
“This problem was predictable and predicted and the government has absolutely failed to plan.”
A man has been arrested by police investigating a “significant” wildfire that triggered a major incident in Northern Ireland.
More than 100 firefighters and 15 fire appliances were deployed on Saturday to Sandbank Road, Hilltown, to tackle the blaze which is believed to have been caused deliberately, fire chiefs said.
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the fire had a front of approximately two miles “including a large area of forestry close to property”.
It was extinguished at 2.53am on Sunday and the major incident status lifted, the NIFRS said.
“The cause of this fire is believed to have been deliberate,” chief fire and rescue officer Aidan Jennings said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Sunday that a 25-year-old man had been arrested “on suspicion of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, and non-related driving offences”.
“He remains in custody at this time as enquiries continue into the circumstances surrounding the fire,” the force added.
The wildfire on Sandbank Road, Hilltown. Pic: Sky Watch NI
More than 100 firefighters were at the scene of the fire. Pic: Sky Watch NI
Various fires erupted across England this week amid uncharacteristically warm and dry conditions for the time of year.
On Saturday, helicopters were deployed to tackle Scotland’s fourth wildfire this week, with police saying a blaze “which started in the Newton Stewart area has spread northwards and is expected to reach the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire around 12am on Sunday”.
Police Scotland added: “As a precautionary measure members of the public are asked to avoid the Loch Doon area and anyone who may be camping in the area is advised to leave.”
Moors Valley Country Park blackened by fires this week
Elsewhere in England, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were assisting the fire service with temporary road closures on the A30 in the Bolventor area as they tackle “a number of fires” on moorland.
In Dorset, Moors Valley Country Park was forced to close after multiple wildfires broke out there on Wednesday.
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Wildfires spread across nature reserve
Separate incidents were then reported at Upton Heath in Poole on Wednesday, and nearby Canford Heath in the early hours of Thursday.
Friday was officially the warmest day of the year so far – with temperatures in the south of England reaching 23C (73.4F) – the highest since 21 September last year, according to the Met Office.
The weather conditions triggered a “severe” wildfire rating for parts of the UK on Tuesday.
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