British Army has started deliveries to alleviate UK fuel supply crisis

British military personnel began delivering fuel to gas stations on Monday after a shortage of truckers affected supply for more than a week. This led to long lines at gas stations as anxious drivers attempted to refuel.

About 200 soldiers were deployed Monday to assist with deliveries after receiving specific training to drive trucks and fill pumps. last week, the government said.

Initially, they will be deployed mainly in London and the south-east of England, where the problems are concentrated.

Troops in camouflaged uniforms were seen in Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead, 20 miles north of London.

“The army drivers are gone”said the head of the Treasury, Rishi Sunak, a LBC Radio. “The situation has improved since, I think, more than a week, every day the statistics were better, and as the demand returns to more normal levels, the majority expect things to be resolved (.. .) People need to know that we are doing all we can. “

Britain is short of tens of thousands of drivers, a consequence of the labor shortage caused by the pandemic and the Brexit, with distribution problems also affecting supermarkets, fast food chains and bars.

Although Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday said the situation was “calming down”, 22% of gas stations in London and South East England were still out of gasThe director of the Fuel Retailers Association, Gordon Balmer, said Monday.

“We hope the situation will improve this week”, Balmer told the channel Sky News, but warned that restocking could take up to 10 days.

Of the nearly 1,100 service stations with which he was in contact on Sunday, some had been without fuel for over a week.

For more than ten days, long queues have formed in front of gas stations due to the supply problems due to shortage of up to 100,000 truckers according to industry officials.

The Gasoline Retailers Association (PRA), which represents 65% of the UK total of 8,380 independent yards, welcomed the intervention of the army.

But he warned the soldiers were likely to have limited effect.

One in five service stations in London and the south-east of England have run out of gasoline, while the crisis in the rest of the country “has practically come to an end”PRA President Brian Madderson said.

(With information from the AP and AFP)

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