FULL petrol tanks are becoming something of a rare sight in Oxfordshire as stations continue to struggle with fuel deliveries due to a shortage of petrol tanker drivers.
Although people are facing difficulties refilling their cars, some Oxfordshire businesses and organisations are managing to cope with the strain.
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Matthew Alden, managing director of Oxford butchers Aldens, said his team have been fully operational over the past few days delivering not only locally in Oxfordshire but across the country.
He said: “We have 18 vehicles which we use every single day. A daily trip covers about 50 miles to 400 miles - so well over 2,000 miles a day are covered by those vehicles.
“There’s challenges depending on which area you’re delivering to. On Saturday the queues were quite bad and I think for businesses it’s quite frustrating when you're queuing up and you’re only allowed anywhere between £6 to £30 of fuel.
“But we’ve managed to hit all our delivery drops. We go to central London everyday, Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford – our main territory. We also have our electric vehicle which has helped with local deliveries and the Oxford Low Emission Zone coming into force.
“We also have our own supply of fuel just in case which we have used for a couple of vehicles. But generally we’re doing okay and this is just another challenge that we’re faced with.”
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Oxfordshire’s bus services Stagecoach and Oxford Bus Company also have their own supply of fuel and have not come across any problems with their operation.
Oxford Bus Company has been topping-up its low emissions vehicles as normal and does 'not anticipate any stock or supply chain issues’.
Phil Southall, managing director of Oxford Bus Company added: “There has been a slight increase in bus travel this week, and we would encourage people to continue to leave their private vehicles at home and travel via public transport.”
Meanwhile production has not been impacted at the BMW Oxford Plant in Cowley.
South Central Ambulance Service said it has ‘robust operational plans’ in place in case there are any disruptions to fuel supply and has additional fuel provisions available, should they be required.
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Similarly, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it has also not experienced any disruption to its services or supply chain ‘but would implement our normal contingency plans should there be any’.
Neighbouring local authority Swindon Borough Council has been urged to consider declaring the current fuel shortage a ‘major incident’ by its Labour opposition.
Oxfordshire County Council is not declaring this a major incident and said in a statement: “As you would expect, Oxfordshire County Council is looking at contingency measures where necessary to ensure that our services can continue during this period, including increasing the use of electric vehicles where possible.”
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