Drivers scramble to find petrol stations to fill-up amid Just Stop Oil protests

Drivers have reported fuel shortages hitting petrol stations across the country today – amid huge disruption at oil terminals by environmental activists.

Queues of cars and vans have been reported at fuel pumps from Portsmouth to Cambridge, while others have been forced to close after running dry.

Liz Williams tweeted: ‘What’s going on with fuel supply? Asda petrol station is Portsmouth shut, Morrisons in Horndean no unleaded and a huge queue.’

Another person said they have been to four petrol stations in East Anglia recently but none had any diesel.

Industry representatives have stressed that there is no issue with the supply of oil, and that it is all down to disruption to deliveries.

A source at one major petrol station operator told MailOnline: ‘[The protests] are affecting every retailer in the country.

‘We have no issue at all with supply, but we’re having to get fuel deliveries from terminals elsewhere in the UK that haven’t been affected by this huge disruption.’  

It comes as eco-fanatic groups Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion teamed up to blockade key terminals leaving tanker drivers unable to deliver fuel to station depots.

Since April 1, Just Stop Oil have attempted to cause chaos at fuel terminals across the country.

The protests however are exacerbating existing supply issues due to increased demand post-Covid lockdowns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

And from Saturday, the group are planning new ‘rebellions’ which will start at London’s Hyde Park and then spread throughout the capital – saying that they will be ‘impossible to ignore’. 

A spokesperson for environmental activists Just Stop Oil claimed they had disrupted 54 per cent of fuel supply.

‘We are getting a lot of reports to us and on social media of fuel shortages across the country,’ they told MailOnline.

When asked about the chaos caused by the group’s protests, the spokesperson said they felt ‘no choice but to act’ to pressure the government into cutting off Britain’s reliance on fuel.

‘The Government can end the misery of empty filling stations immediately by making a statement to end new oil and gas,’ they said.

Despite this, government statistics on road fuel stock levels 

Several of the ports most affected are in Essex where people have been attaching themselves to fuel tankers with glue and bike locks. 

Chafford Hundred, West Thurrock and the Purfleet Fuels Terminals are among the 10 ‘critical’ sites that have been blocked across the country

The operation has cost more than £1 million since last Friday, according to Essex’s Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, and more protestors have continued to arrive. 

A week on, 268 people have now been arrested by Essex Police alone.

Seven of the ten protests were carried out by Just Stop Oil at Navigator Terminals Thames, Inter Terminals UK and Purfleet Fuels Terminal all in Grays; Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire; Esso Petroleum in Tyburn, Birmingham; and Kingsbury Oil Terminal and BP Oil Depot, both in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

The further three were organised by Extinction Rebellion demonstrators at the Esso West Terminal near London Heathrow Airport, Hamble Terminals in Southampton and Hythe Terminal in Fawley, Hampshire. 

In a tweet by Extinction Rebellion’s Cambridge branch the group shared photos of fuel ‘running dry across Cambridge’.

‘@JustStop_Oil and @XRebellionUK are blockading oil terminals across the UK.

‘Shown here are petrol stations in Sainsbury’s Coldhams Lane, Tesco Fulbourn, and BP Elizabeth Way and Cherry Hinton.’

The Petrol Retailers Association said: ‘We are aware of protests at a number of fuel supply sites; however the majority of terminals are currently unaffected.

‘PRA has not had any members contacting regarding supply issues. Some fuel suppliers are having to reschedule deliveries and our members are working closely with them and following their advice.’

From this weekend it is believed the groups’ focus will shift towards ‘mass daily protests’ in London to be led by Extinction Rebellion activists.

The campaign group, also known as XR, will hold its latest ‘rebellions’ from April 9 starting at Hyde Park and then spreading throughout the capital.

Protests are also planned in Birmingham and Southampton and ‘non-violent direct action training’ will be given.

XR spokesman Andrew Smith said: ‘From Saturday April 9 we will meet at 10am in Hyde Park every day. We will be easy to find, we will be easy to join, we will be more disruptive than ever, and we will be impossible to ignore.

‘We’re expecting huge numbers from the 9th. In London we won’t have pink boats, we won’t have pink tables, we will just have people power.

‘In the tradition of non-violent civil disobedience, we will disrupt business as usual until the Government and big business make change. We need everyone to join us.’ 

He continued: ‘We’re looking at more mass participation-style events, rather than small kind of scattergun actions which rebellions have previously consisted of. We’re looking at mass participation, which are easy to join.

‘We’re asking the public to step up and join us. We know at the moment that across the country, people are feeling kind of disenfranchised with how they’ve been treated by the Government.

‘The energy crisis is really starting to hit home on people, and people really want us to step up into a space where their voice is heard. 

‘We’re offering them the space where they can come and participate and join with us. Every morning we’ll be offering non-violent direct action training, where we will encourage people to step up and be empowered to take action with us and speak out against Government inaction. As a response to that, the actions will feel and look very different to previous rebellions.