Can key workers jump petrol station queues?

DRIVERS are facing chaos and huge waits at the pumps as the UK’s petrol crisis continues.

Many petrol forecourts across the country have run out of fuel, or have been forced to shut, while they wait for deliveries.

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Colossal queues have formed on major roads across the country as Brits are panic buying fuel for their tanks.

The army may even be drafted in to help deliver fuel to stations where drivers are fighting on forecourts over the crisis.

But can key workers jump the queue and fill up quicker to avoid long waits? We explain all we know so far.

Can key workers jump the queue at forecourts?

So far, no petrol stations have confirmed to The Sun whether or not they have a policy in place whereby key workers can fill up ahead of other drivers.

It is understood that the government will make the call on whether key workers – and which ones – are prioritised at the pumps.

That means that petrol stations will likely follow official government guidance on the matter instead of drawing up their own rules.

But there’s currently no official government guidance that has been issued on this yet – despite reports that key workers are unable to fill up and get to work.

London mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News that care workers, people who work in hospitals that need to drive to get to work, black cab drivers and private hire vehicle drivers are not able to fuel up.

He said: “We are working with the DfT (Department for Transport) to do what we can to make sure we have fuel being provided particularly for those key workers across our city.”

We’ve asked the government for more information on if guidance will be issued, and will update this article as soon as we know more.

Why is there a petrol crisis?

Although there is not a petrol “shortage”, the problem is said to have been caused by the shortage of drivers transporting fuel from terminals to forecourts.

While there are chronic problems around the country with people panic-buying petrol it doesn’t seem that the issue will be solved any time soon.

It’s meant the government is reportedly posed to grant 10,000 temporary foreign worker visas to help ease the HGV driver shortage and fuel crisis.

But No 10 insisted on Friday night that any measures introduced would be “very strictly time-limited” amid reports that Boris Johnson had allowed ministers to relax UK immigration rules to allow more foreign drivers into the country.

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps earlier promised to “move heaven and earth” to get the situation solved.

The latest statement from the fuel industry is: “There is plenty of fuel at UK refineries and terminals, and as an industry we are working closely with the government to help ensure fuel is available to be delivered to stations across the country.

“As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, we expect that demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, easing pressures on fuel station forecourts.

“We would encourage everyone to buy fuel as they usually would.

“We remain enormously grateful to all forecourt staff and HGV drivers for working tirelessly to maintain supplies during this time.”

Is there a limit on amount of petrol I can buy?

Hundreds of petrol stations have imposed a £30 fuel cap per driver to ensure everyone has a “fair chance to refuel”.

The EG Group, which has 341 petrol stations in the UK, confirmed the emergency services and lorry drivers would not be affected.

A spokesperson said: “Due to the current unprecedented customer demand for fuel and associated supply challenges we have taken the decision to introduce a limit of £30 per customer on all of our grades of fuel.

“This excludes HGV drivers and emergency services due to their vital role at this time. “This is a company decision to ensure all our customers have a fair chance to refuel and to enable our sites to carry on running smoothly.

“We kindly ask everyone visiting our sites to treat our colleagues, supply chain partners and customers with respect during these very challenging times.

“All of EG Group’s UK sites remain open and operational to serve customers.”

Up to 100 BP petrol stations have been affected by the loss of fuel with around 20 of the company’s 1,200 forecourts closed.

BP said it was cutting deliveries at 90% of its petrol stations in an effort to ration the fuel it has in reserve.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) warned that drivers should keep a quarter of a tank of fuel in their car in case their normal station ran out.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk