Police issue petrol panic buying plea in Sheffield

After last weekend’s panic buying, which continued into the earlier part of the week and saw petrol stations running out of fuel across Sheffield, the South Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation is urging motorists to only buy the fuel they need.

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Chairman Steve Kent said South Yorkshire Police has supplies for its vehicles but if stations run dry again police officers may struggle to get to work.

“I have been reassured to hear that there is fuel supply for our police vehicles, however what is concerning some of our members is that they concerned about getting fuel to enable them to get to work,” he said.

“This isn’t of course exclusive to our officers, I am aware that this is the case with our other emergency service colleagues and others who work in critical functions. I would therefore ask that people apply common sense and only buy the fuel that they need.”

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Panic buying started when firms struggling with a shortage of drivers were unable to deliver supplies to petrol stations.

The Government stressed that there was not a shortage of fuel, just of drivers to deliver the fuel and urged motorists to buy as normal.

But queues quickly built up at filling stations and fuel ran out as motorists raced to fill up their tanks.

Some stations limited the amount motorists could buy.