Minister says fuel crisis could last another ‘week or so’

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said today that motorists could face another “week or so” of issues with fuel due “unprecedented demand.”

The Prime Minister is ready to review the situation should issues around the fuel crisis are not resolved in the coming days.

London and the South East are the hardest areas in the country, Malthouse said.

He said, “We are still seeing strong demand in parts of the country around fuel. The distribution mechanism is trying to respond to this unprecedented demand,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“My latest briefing is that the situation is stabilising, that we are seeing more forecourts with a greater supply of fuel and hopefully that, as demand and supply come better into balance over the next few days, week or so, that we will see a return to normality.

“I think if things started to deteriorate further, obviously the prime minister and the secretary of state for energy, whose responsibility this is, will have to review the situation.”

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has warned there has been “no improvement” with the supply of petrol at filling stations.

The PRA represents almost 5,500 filling stations out of the UK’s 8,300 and over a quarter, or 27% of their members stations had run empty on Thursday.

The PRA chairman Brian Maddderson said, “Trying to calm this down appears to be a monumental task at the moment.

“The surge in demand appears to be continuing.

“There’s been no easing off of the pressure from drivers wanting to refuel whenever they can, wherever they can.”