ugc_banner

British army set to delivering fuel in UK from Monday: Government

WION Web Team
London, United KingdomUpdated: Oct 02, 2021, 02:45 PM IST
main img
Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

Car drivers and motorists have been queuing up in the country to get their vehicle tankers full. However, the government claims the situation is slowly getting better

Following the shortage of tanker drivers in the UK, the government has decided to bring in British Army to deliver petrol all over the country now.

A few days ago, a piece of news spread like wildfire. People started getting to know that tanker drivers are facing restrictions to get entry visas in the UK which might lead to a shortage of drivers, translating into shortage of fuel.

Upon hearing this, the locals started immediately driving to petrol pumps to get their car tankers full. This panic buying has led to shortage of fuel in the country.

Now, to ease out that situation in the UK, the British Army will be stepping in from Monday to support the government’s plan and help fill in for the shortage of the HGV drivers.

"Almost 200 military tanker personnel, 100 of which are drivers, will be deployed from Monday to provide temporary support as part of the government's wider action to further relieve pressure on petrol stations and address the shortage of HGV drivers," the government said in a news release issued Friday. 

Car drivers and motorists have been queuing up in the country to get their vehicle tankers full. This has also led to several violent clashes between the locals at petrol pumps in different parts of England.

"Thanks to the immense efforts of industry over the past week, we are seeing continued signs that the situation at the pumps is slowly improving," said business minister Kwasi Kwarteng. "It's important to stress there is no national shortage of fuel in the UK, and people should continue to buy fuel as normal. The sooner we return to our normal buying habits, the sooner we can return to normal."

The officials also reported that these selected military personnel were put on standby when the situation started getting out of control, and they have been trained in the meantime to handle this situation.

"The government has taken decisive action to tackle the short term disruption to our supply chains, and in particular the flow of fuel to forecourts," said minister Steven Barclay. "We are now seeing the impact of these interventions with more fuel being delivered to forecourts than sold and, if people continue to revert to their normal buying patterns, we will see smaller queues and prevent petrol stations closing."

Meanwhile, the meat industry has also raised concern about shortage of lorry drivers resulting in shortage of Christmas food in the supermarkets this year.