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A man was seen pushing a vehicle into a service station in Bristol as panic buying continues across the West Country.
Some repair shops are experiencing a supply shortage due to problems transporting fuel from distribution terminals to gas stationsthat worsens due to panic buying.
The problem stems from the lack of truck drivers – something the government wants to address by possible relaxation of visa requirements to allow more foreign workers to enter the country.
Though unconfirmed, The ministers have stressed that any solution is “strictly limited in time”..
The University of Bath automotive expert Andrew Graves has criticized the government’s handling of the driver shortage.
He told ITV News, “In the short term, they need to get some drivers. And they have to get some drivers to see if they use military drivers, which I think is pretty dubious because not many people are military trained. ”Driving petrol tankers.
“The second thing you have to do is bring some drivers back from Europe. We had 14,000 or 15,000 drivers from Europe who went missing.
“We have a crisis in our hands and people are panicking because they’re running out of fuel.”
On Saturday there were more scenes with vehicles across the region, which prompted the workshops to take matters into their own hands.
AA chief Edmund King said, “Some gas stations are rationing fuel, only allowing £ 30 to be bought. That means it will keep going so important workers can get fuel.”
He added, “Some workshops give priority to key workers, some delivery vehicles have been given priority.”
What action is the government taking?
A temporary visa system is expected to be put in place to address the shortage of truck drivers so that overseas drivers can come to the UK and work there.
With an announcement expected over the weekend, Downing Street sources said the program, which is reported to temporarily lift visa restrictions on foreign drivers, is intended to be a “short-term fix” to ease pressure on Christmas shipments.
The Financial Times and the Telegraph reported that truck drivers could be granted up to 5,000 temporary visas, while the FT also said a similar number would be approved for workers in food processing, particularly in the poultry industry.
And though Downing Street wouldn’t confirm whether any decisions were made Transport Secretary Grant Shapps previously promised to “move heaven and earth” to resolve the situation.
On Friday, September 24th, a Downing Street spokesman said, “We have There is ample fuel in this country and the public should be reassured that there are no shortages.
“But like countries around the world, we are suffering from a temporary Covid-related shortage of drivers needed to move deliveries across the country.”
“We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid immediate problems, but any measures we put in place will be very strictly temporary.
“We are moving into a highly skilled, high-wage economy and companies will have to adapt with more investment in recruitment and training to ensure long-term resilience.”
Labor has announced it will support the introduction of short-term visas for foreign truck drivers but said the government is already too slow to react.
