STROUD MP Siobhan Baillie has issued a plea to motorists to stop panic buying fuel.

The MP said it is the panic buying that is driving the shortage of fuel at some petrol stations, rather than supply chain issues.

She said: “Today all the big fuel suppliers have said there is no shortage in the country. There is plenty of petrol and diesel in the refineries and enough drivers to deliver to the vast majority of stations. Some petrol stations have now run dry because of panic buying.

"I do understand why people are compelled to buy when others are doing it and the media is constantly running worrying stories. I saw some queues around Stroud this weekend but if we can get back to filling up cars only when we need to, we can work together to break the panic cycle.

"We do have a shortage of HGV drivers in the UK, just like many other European countries and the US have a shortage too. The Government is addressing this by issuing temporary HGV driver visas, writing to HGV drivers to ask them to come back into the industry, creating a boot camp for new entrants, speeding up HGV driver testing following a backlog due to Covid and bringing in assistance to remove the backlog for licences. I have also spoken to the Secretary of State again today (Monday) about these issues for Stroud businesses and Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) training requirements.

"My main message is that there is no need to rush to buy fuel as it is making the situation worse. I continue to have high hopes that there will be vast improvements in the pay and quality of facilities for drivers following yet another period of us all learning more about how vital they are for our lives.”