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Panic at the pumps: UK fuel crisis rumbles on

Wednesday, 29 September 2021 7:13 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 29 September 2021 7:13 PM ]

Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London

This is what days of fuel shortage is doing to some people in the UK. Furious at the lack of petrol to fill up their tanks, some motorists are taking it out on each other.

Across the country, nerves are frayed. Doctors and essential workers are not arriving at work on time and cancer patients have had vital appointments delayed. And with supermarkets, it is meant gaps in restocking shelves.

The prime minister says the situation is stabilizing, the dry pumps and lengthy lines of cars at filling stations across major cities mean the crisis has not let up just yet affecting lives and livelihoods.

There is no shortage of fuel at refineries, but of truck drivers to transport it to petrol stations. The government here blames on increased global demand for drivers. Experts say, that is not the whole story.

British soldiers will soon be deployed to drive tankers to replenish empty pumps. Thousands of temporary visas have also been issued for EU drivers to pick up the slack. Haulage companies are offering higher pay rates to lure prospective drivers. But applications have been few and far between.

The shortages have added to an air of chaos in the world's fifth-largest economy, with haulage companies, petrol stations and retailers saying the shortfall of drivers is so acute, we are going to see more scenes like this one for the foreseeable future.

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