Northwich pub's offer to drivers who haven't been panic buying fuel

The Riverside in Acton Bridge is offering customers 20 per cent off their food bill if they can show they have less than half a tank left.

It follows five days of queues on forecourts across the area as a national shortage of HGV delivery drivers meant some petrol stations ran out of fuel.

Posting on their Facebook page, they said: “It’s mayhem at the petrol stations.

“Don’t be a panic buyer, instead of waiting to fill your car up why don’t you come down and fill up with some food and drink instead.

The Riverside pub in Acton Bridge

“Prove to us you’re not part of the problem by taking a picture of your fuel indicator that’s got less than half a tank and we’ll give you 20 per cent off your food bill.”

Several stations in and around Northwich have received further fuel supplies in the last few days.

Despite ongoing queues fuel firms have again sought to reassure the public that there is no national shortage of fuel.

A statement by Shell, ExxonMobile and other industry bodies said the pressures on supply were the result of ‘temporary spikes in customer demand’.

Here is what major fuel companies have said about the ongoing crisis and their advice to drivers.

BP

A BP spokesman said: "We are experiencing fuel supply issues at some of our retail sites. This is being caused by a shortage of qualified drivers. The majority of the 1,200 sites we supply remain supplied and open.

"However, at the moment we estimate that 10 to 15 per cent of sites in this network currently may not have one grade of fuel or another."

Tesco

Tesco has seen long queues over the weekend as drivers panic over having enough fuel to last into the week.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We have good availability of fuel, and we’re working really hard to ensure regular deliveries to our petrol filling stations across the UK every day."

Morrisons

Morrisons said: "It is a rapidly moving situation and we are working hard with our suppliers to ensure we can continue to keep our pumps open and serve our customers."

Shell

Shell has seen petrol stations run out of fuel following a soar in demand over the weekend.

A spokesperson for Shell said: "We are working hard to ensure supplies for customers. Since Friday we have been seeing a higher-than-normal demand across our network which is resulting in some sites running low on some grades."

Esso and Texaco

Forecourts belonging to BP, Shell and Texaco have been forced to change rules on filling up amid panic buying across the UK.

Petrol stations belonging to the three companies have introduced a £30 limit for driver who need to fill up as people continue to panic buy despite warnings not to.

Government response to fuel shortage

Mr Shapps said visas were 'only one element' of the state intervention, with ministers planning to train 4,000 more lorry drivers, while the Army have been drafted in to provide extra HGV driving tests to reduce the 'bottleneck' caused by the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.

Nearly one million letters will also be landing on the doormats of people with HGV licences in the coming days enticing them to return to the job now that wages have risen.

The Government is also keen to see better conditions in terms of truck-stop facilities as it bids to shift the workforce demographic from being mostly white, male and in their mid-50s.