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(36 Posts)
Ladyleftfieldlover Mon 04-Oct-21 16:55:08

Well, I filled my car up with petrol today. I was down to less than 100 miles of fuel. OH had popped into our nearby small town and rang to say it looked as though our nearest petrol station was open. I leapt into my car and found it was indeed open, but only one pump was on. I had to do some complicated reversing to line up the petrol cap. The hose from the pump wasn’t long enough to reach over or round my car. As I did so two more cars drove in and waited patiently as I manoeuvred. No nastiness, no pushing in. All very civilised. We were only allowed to buy a maximum of £50 but that’s fine. My car has a small fuel tank so it never costs more than £50 anyway!

Kim19 Thu 07-Oct-21 17:49:40

I filled up.last evening. Not another soul at the (12) pumps. Also the £30 limit sign had been removed.

sparkynan Thu 07-Oct-21 15:51:42

I'm in Staines, and filled up yesterday, no problems, no queue's. Good thing as I am a community Reablement Worker, and wouldnt be able to travel from houe to house without fuel!

jenpax Wed 06-Oct-21 16:19:29

Nvella I think it depends on the car! 20 is about average but as you say better to not chance it!

rafichagran Wed 06-Oct-21 11:10:06

I live in one of the 32 outer London boroughs, I filled up my car, but only after driving passed 4 garages that had no fuel.

What I am sick of, is people moaning about other drivers panic buying when they are in the queue to buy petrol themselves. Although I do think it greedy when people are filling up huge containers. It seems to me people accuse others of things but dont realise they are doing it themselves.

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 06-Oct-21 10:56:38

My son lives in London and had to try four garages to get fuel to come home last weekend. I’m in Norfolk and our local garage had no petrol until a tanker turned up yesterday. It’s on a main road so an easy target for people passing through to fill up whether needing to or not. We always have full tanks in our cars in case of the need for a long emergency journey, and not going anywhere much at present we’re very glad to be ok. IMO the fuel-buying panic has been caused by the media and that if people had stuck to their usual fuel-buying habits there would have been no problems at all. No fuel shortage and there are enough tanker drivers to carry out normal deliveries to garages. But hey, let’s panic the public and the results will give us plenty to report on!

nipsmum Wed 06-Oct-21 10:19:10

No petrol problem here in North East Scotland. No queues no closed stations.

Naninka Wed 06-Oct-21 07:50:53

Doesn't seem to be a problem here in the Midlands. I'm not sure why.

Redhead56 Wed 06-Oct-21 00:56:04

Outskirts of Liverpool queues everywhere people were panic buying for a couple of days it was rather obvious. It has settled down now but people who are travelling to or for work are the priority in my opinion.

Happysexagenarian Wed 06-Oct-21 00:11:13

We're on the south coast. DH passed three petrol stations on the way to the vet this morning, they all had fuel and no queues, all very calm and civilised. He didn't bother filling up as we still have half a tank, it will last us for quite a while as we only make short journeys.

GreenGran78 Tue 05-Oct-21 19:51:31

I filled up today without a problem. The 3 petrol stations I passed all had fuel and no queues.
I'm still confused by this new 5 and 10 grade. I'm not sure if my elderly Chevrolet Kalos can take the new stuff. I filled up with 5, but it was the higher quality, and more expensive than I usually buy.

Nvella Tue 05-Oct-21 18:55:56

I am in London and completely down to zero with all petrol stations around me closed. AND all petrol cans sold out. I daren’t drive my car to look for petrol so I am going to borrow a petrol can and wander round hunting for petrol tomorrow. I can’t get a clear idea of what 0 means as lots of people seem to say it means you still have 10/30 miles left but I am too nervous to risk it!

Elvis58 Tue 05-Oct-21 17:00:41

Definately London and South East problem.Drove down from Yorkshire where l have had no queues or shortage on a full tank to South East to visit family.No petrol down there, the only one was Asda who opened at 10 oclock at night and a £30 limit, queues up the road.Silliness all round.

Nanawind Tue 05-Oct-21 16:15:58

I'm in the NW went yesterday to fill up and there was only me on the forecourt.

LuckyFour Tue 05-Oct-21 16:06:55

Filled up my car in Exeter today, absolutely no problem. All pumps working, fairly busy but no waiting. In fact just the same as normal. What's all the fuss about?

jenpax Tue 05-Oct-21 15:00:04

We are on the south coast and queues form every time there is a delivery! Its stressful looking for diesel, as we rely on the car for getting two sets of grandchildren too and from school and I have mobility issues so walking far isn't an option?

tanith Tue 05-Oct-21 14:47:15

There isn’t a shortage of fuel just lack of enough drivers!

eazybee Tue 05-Oct-21 14:34:54

Here in the south-west the shortage seems to be of diesel fuel. I was allowed to put £30 of petrol in the tank last Wednesday which is more than adequate for my needs.

travelsafar Tue 05-Oct-21 14:14:57

My fear is that i will be house bound if i can not get fuel. I can no longer walk long distances so getting to town would mean taxi there and back and adding to my expences.I suppose it could be regarded as the money i would have spent on fuel but that is not the point. There will be many people like myself that drive to the supermarket, grab a trolley for support whilst going round the store, then back to the car and home.

nanna8 Tue 05-Oct-21 14:06:35

Are they rationing it to a certain amount? I assumed they would be. They always ration things when there are shortages here. Even things like toilet rolls and food.

pooohbear2811 Tue 05-Oct-21 13:46:02

Been lucky enough here on the West Coast of Scotland to have no queues or shortages. Did see it on the news and felt sorry for those with tanks in the red needing fuel.
Was disgusted by the prices some garages were charging in the hard hit areas.
Never mind a few yrs time we will all be electric and won't need to worry.

frenchie Tue 05-Oct-21 13:41:15

Drove yesterday from Dover to Worthing, jut one garage had fuel but no diesel!
Today we drove from Worthing to Portsmouth and we were lucky as one petrol station had diesel so we could fill up!

sandwichgeneration Tue 05-Oct-21 12:51:05

Definitely London and the South East. I can't leave my house when the petrol tanker arrives as the queues block the entire road and go on from morning to night. One way to save petrol I suppose. However, I pity health care workers who have to visit the elderly and disabled and have no other option but to spend their days queuing. I fear for their patients.

Cid24 Tue 05-Oct-21 12:46:18

Mt decorator told me that people queue up to get the allowed £30 limit , then join the back of the queue and top up again!!!! ?

jocork Tue 05-Oct-21 12:33:33

I filled up 2 wednesdays ago as I was in the red and was due to go on a 200 mile round trip that weekend. I heard about the delivery problem as I drove home from the garage. I'd filled up at Asda and the tanker came in to fill up while I was at the pump - they put the cones across behind me. The next day I heard you couldn't get into Asda to shop due to the queues down the road for petrol there. I just got lucky! Some of the intended guests for the gathering that weekend didn't go as they were stressed about getting enough fuel and had further to travel than me. It's sad they missed out on my grandson's first birthday celebrations. Meanwhile I still have 3/4 of a tank of diesel which will last me weeks as I hardly go anywhere most of the time - shopping trips, church meetings, choir and deliveries for the food bank, though the clients have been asked to collect in person at present because some of the volunteers have no fuel.

There needs to be some control taken so those who really need fuel to get to work etc can get what they need. They need a minimum purchase limit to stop people filling up with tiny amounts. If they had to pay a minimum charge that might stop the idiots who put in less than a fiver just to keep topped up!

I'm in the SE so we do seem to be more badly hit. I'm just glad I've retired as getting to work would have been an hour's walk with no direct bus route if I'd run out. It would have taken even longer by bus going into town and out again on different busses when it takes only 15 minutes by car even in rush hour queues. When my car wouldn't start - only happened once - it cost me £5 for a taxi, probably more now. I do feel sorry for those struggling but if everyone stopped panicking I'm sure there would be enough to go round.

sundowngirl Tue 05-Oct-21 12:18:25

We live in the South East and we drove past a dozen closed garages this morning before finding one to fill up. It was such a relief as we were getting very low.