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Up to 90% of UK petrol stations run dry amid trucker shortage

This article is more than 12 months old

LONDON: Up to 90 per cent of petrol stations ran dry across major English cities yesterday after panic buying deepened a supply chain crisis triggered by a shortage of truck drivers.

A dire post-Brexit shortage of truck drivers emerging after the Covid-19 pandemic has sown chaos through British supply chains in everything from food to fuel, raising the spectre of disruptions and price rises in the run up to Christmas Day.

Just days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government spent millions of pounds to avert a food shortage from a spike in prices for natural gas, ministers asked people to refrain from panic buying.

But queues of dozens of cars snaked back from petrol stations across the country on Sunday, swallowing up supplies and forcing many petrol stations to close.

Pumps across British cities were either closed or had signs saying fuel was unavailable yesterday. - REUTERS

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