South Central ambulance service urged people to only buy fuel if they need to – after ambulance drivers had to join the queues at petrol stations.

Friday saw long queues form at some garages, as people tried to fill up their cars. BP said it had closed a ‘handful’ of its petrol stations earlier this week due to a lack of fuel, while the EG Group said it would impose a £30 spending limit per customer due to ‘unprecedented demand’.

On Saturday, signs could be seen on pumps at the BP garage in Headley Way, Oxford, warning customers there was no fuel. There were long queues outside the Shell garage in Headington; and a PCSO could be seen standing at the entrance to the forecourt later on Saturday after the filling station had to shut temporarily to allow staff to clear what appeared to be a spillage.

Oxford Mail:

No petrol signs at the Headley Way BP garage, Oxford

Oxford Mail:

Traffic was queueing in the bus lane to get into the Shell garage on London Road, Headington, on Saturday morning

South Central Ambulance Service asked people to only fill up if they needed to – and ensure emergency services could get to the pumps.

Bosses said on Twitter: “It's been another busy day for our services. Every day our teams routinely use petrol stations to refuel vehicles so that we can continue to get to our patients, and, like many, continue to get to work.

“Today they have joined the queues with others to refuel which on some occasions has taken time.

“Please could we encourage everyone to follow Government advice and only refuel should you need to.

“If you do find that you need to join the queue at a station please ensure that others, including emergency vehicles, can continue to pass.”

READ MORE: Panic buying at petrol stations? Oxford Mail readers have their say

Last night, the Government said it was considering temporary measures to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers – said to be affecting deliveries of fuel to some garages.

No 10 insisted that any measures 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.

The Financial Times and the Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister had given ministers the go-ahead to temporarily lift visa restrictions for foreign drivers.

Oxford Mail:

A PCSO outside the Shell garage on London Road, Headington. The forecourt was shut as staff appeared to be clearing a spillage

The newspapers said up to 5,000 temporary visas could be granted for HGV drivers, while the Financial Times said a similar number would be approved for food processing workers, especially in the poultry industry.

BP said that around 20 of its 1,200 petrol forecourts were closed due to a lack of available fuel, with between 50 and 100 sites affected by the loss of at least one grade of fuel.

Muskama Siddh, manager of the BP garage at Eynsham service station, said: "We have been getting no petrol at all and this has been going on for the past couple of weeks. We get 3 to 4,000 litres and that's gone in four to five hours.”

READ MORE: Queues form at ASDA petrol station amid fuel supply concerns

A ‘small number’ of Tesco refilling stations have also been impacted, said Esso owner ExxonMobil, which runs the sites.

And on Friday the EG Group, which has around 400 petrol stations in the UK, said it was imposing a £30 limit on customers ‘due to the current unprecedented customer demand for fuel’.

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