[imagesource: PA]

There’s been a bit of panic as people across the UK are queuing to get their share of petrol before the stations run out amidst the ongoing fuel crisis.

The crisis, compounded by panic buying and a shortage of lorry drivers delivering fuel, has resulted in around 90% of petrol stations in and around London running out of petrol and diesel.

Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers have been retiring at alarming rates since Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country.

The crisis also hit after a six-fold surge in demand from drivers over the weekend, with fights breaking out between angsty customers waiting in the long lines.

More on the current conditions from The Evening Standard:

Thousands of Londoners including doctors and teachers were forced to work from home on Monday as the capital bore the brunt of the “shambolic” fuel crisis.

Black cab drivers in London have called on the government to introduce essential user only petrol stations.

Police have been forced to jump the line for petrol in Hackney while an ambulance on a blue light call bumped into a motorist while trying to squeeze past another queue in Bromley over the weekend.

The queues are seemingly never-ending:

Image: PA

Naturally, the shortage has brought out the worst in people.

One man pulled out a knife and threatened another driver who he claimed jumped the queue on Monday:

The motorist, driving a blue Citroen, had reportedly pushed in to the queue at the Shell garage in Welling, southeast London, when he was challenged by a passenger queueing in another car.

The knife-wielding man claimed to have been queuing at the petrol station since 8AM that morning, only to be turned away and told to come back when the stock was back in.

Well, he came back absolutely determined to get his share, apparently, at any cost:

An engineer from Kent, Stefan Silva, 29, witnessed the chaotic moment:

“The man was shouting and saying ‘I’m going to slice him. Everybody else has been queueing up for hours. Why don’t you queue up?’

Silva says he managed to calm the man down, reasoning that it wasn’t worth stabbing somebody over trying to get a bit of fuel.

Meanwhile, at an Esso forecourt, a massive brawl broke out among frustrated parents and their younger boys:

Likewise, a fight broke out at another petrol station in north London on Sunday, with one man arrested on suspicion of assault:

Heated arguments ensued at another London petrol station, with police being forced to marshal motorists racing to get their tanks filled:

Drivers are only legally allowed to store up to 30 litres of fuel at home without needing to inform the relevant authorities.

Anything more would be considered breaking the law.

[source:eveningstandard]