Fuel supply: 'Queues are meant to be easing but I've not seen it'

Lengthy queues at forecourts are continuing amid petrol supply issues, and the government says the Army will help to make things better.

A number of the government's 80 reserve fuel tankers have also been drafted in, with civilians driving the trucks from their depots in Cambridgeshire and West Yorkshire.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has denied there is a crisis with UK fuel supplies, and says the situation is "stabilising".

But how are those running petrol stations coping with the past few days?

Tom Highland helps run petrol stations in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, with his father Steve.

He says: "When you've got fuel it's manically busy, when you haven't it's dead."

The 29-year-old says he and his staff will often be asked when their next fuel delivery is coming, but he says "the honest answer is we don't know".

They are contacted by text or email before a delivery arrives and it has been difficult to arrange extra supplies.

He says there are still long queues at the pumps which remain open.

"I've been told it's meant to be easing but I've not seen it," he says.

"Everyone has been pretty good about it but it's so unnecessary.

"We've had a driver shortage for the last six months, it's just that people have heard about it now.

"I hope it is just this week that will be manic."

Tom's father Steve Highland has been in the filling station business for 35 years.

He says he has spoken to people who have driven 15 miles (24km) to fill up.

He said that on Tuesday, "the minute the tanker left the site they were five deep for four hours", while on Wednesday he spent the "entire morning marshalling cars to the right pumps".

His forecourts have imposed a £35 limit for cars and a 50 litre limit for HGVs, which he describes as "a good compromise".

The 65-year-old says: "You've got to look after your employees. It's been stressful for them.

"People want more or they've waited 20 minutes, but all my staff do it with a smile on their faces."

He says one of his petrol stations sold two and a half days' worth of fuel in "two six hours shifts".

"I've done my best for people, rationing it out means people can get to A to B," he says.

But he says the demand is not good for him.

"Everybody thinks you make more money from being busy, but the opposite is true.

"There's no 'while I'm here, shall I grab a coffee or a sandwich?', so your shop sales drop and while you've got no fuel you've got no-one in the shop.

"These conditions are a lose-lose for everybody.

"I've got to pay my staff whether they are rushed off their feet or they are not busy."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]