City petrol stations run dry as drivers' strike takes hold

Published on Monday 16 June 2008 10:30

PETROL stations in the Capital are beginning to feel the strain of the fuel tanker drivers' strike, with some pumps already completely dry.

Talks were set to be held today in a bid to resolve the dispute, which has led to hundreds of workers going on strike since Friday morning.

The drivers are due to return to work tomorrow at 6am, but petrol stations say they do not know when their fuel deliveries will get back to normal.

The Government said yesterday that just 35 stations out of 960 in Scotland had either run dry or were without some types of fuel, but the situation seems to be worsening as the strike continues.

One petrol station owner says she has "lost out" as a result of the tanker drivers' dispute after running dry on Friday night.

Anne Stark, owner of the Jet garage in Tranent, East Lothian, said: "I have no idea when I'm getting my fuel, the petrol company can't tell me.

"I've got signs on the road and the forecourt saying I've run out, but you still get people coming in asking when we're getting it back in.

"I've been told that everybody round about had fuel on Saturday but then on Sunday they were running dry.

"I've lost out this weekend."

Asda at The Jewel has also been hit by the strikes, reporting it had run out of unleaded this morning, while Tesco on Willowbrae Road only had super unleaded left.

The Shell garage on Dalry Road ran out of unleaded at 7pm last night, with Shell's Seafield Road branch warning this morning that stocks of unleaded would only last until around 8.30am.

Some petrol stations were imposing a limit on how much fuel customers could buy, like the BP Links Service Station in Barclay Place, which capped petrol buying at 15 amid fears of more panic-buying today.

Unite, which represents more than 600 drivers at two haulage firms who deliver fuel to Shell garages, announced last night that a new attempt would be made to break the deadlocked row over pay.

The drivers have mounted picket lines at around 14 terminals and fuel sites across the UK.

Union officials maintained informal contact with managers from the two firms – Hoyer and Suckling – and the two sides were due to meet at a secret location today.

It is highly unusual for negotiations to be held while industrial action is still taking place, so the development has raised hopes that the dispute can be resolved.

The union has warned there will be another strike next weekend if the deadlock is not broken.

Shell said around 249 of its sites were affected by shortages of one or more types of fuel because of the industrial action.

The firm said around eight per cent of all petrol stations in Britain were hit by shortages of one or more fuel grades over the weekend.