Soldiers deliver fuel to petrol station on training run as they prepare to join fuel crisis battle

The British Army was pictured delivering fuel to a petrol station for the first time Sunday as part of their training to help tackle the ongoing fuel crisis. 

Three soldiers were seen donning high visibility jackets as they made the delivery to a Shell Garage in New Forest in Hampshire.

The group had followed a Hoyer lorry in their blue crew bus before being shown how to unload the fuel into the forecourt tanks while an accompanying tanker driver told them it would take 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete the job. 

It comes as the fuel crisis was branded ‘absolutely horrendous’ in London and the South East by industry leaders today, as panic-buyers continue to leave forecourts dry and petrol prices soar. 

Army personnel are poised to start delivering fuel from tomorrow.

Pictures released from earlier in the week also showed Army and RAF soldiers in uniform being trained by Hoyer Petrolog UK in Thurrock, Essex and the Defence School of Transport (DST) in Leconfield, Yorkshire. 

The servicemen were taught how to use petroleum tanker equipment while being shown inside the cabins of the tanker lorries.  

The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents thousands of independent forecourts across the UK, has welcomed the introduction of the military from tomorrow, as it said fuel shortages are getting worse in some parts of the country.

Chairman Brian Madderson called the situation in the South ‘absolutely horrendous’, telling LBC: ‘Early signs from our polls this morning show again that the Midlands, North and Scotland, are doing pretty well, and more and more of their filling stations are getting stock. 

‘There is far less stock out and far less surge buying. Normality is creeping in to that party of the country, but London and the South East are absolutely horrendous.’

He told the broadcaster that people are ‘desperate’ to get fuel to do normal every day things, such as taking children to school and getting to work.

Speaking to presenter Andrew Castle, Mr Madderson said: ‘I live in Kent and when I was out yesterday the local social media was pinging away saying ‘just seen a tanker down the road on the A20, we think a tanker is coming in here’. And so, people really are desperate to get fuel to do their normal tasks.

‘London and the South East seems to be really awful. I had one of my retailers from Bracknell ring me this morning, saying all six sites, including the two supermarkets are out of fuel.’   

Motorists are being told prices could rise by up to 5p a litre this week as industry chiefs claimed the situation is getting worse in London and parts of the South East.

The Mail on Sunday discovered one Gulf petrol station in West London charging £2.93 per litre for Super Unleaded – a staggering 47 per cent more than its normal price of £1.98. 

Figures compiled by the FairFuelUK campaign group indicated that the average national price of a litre of petrol now stands at 141.9p, which is up from 136.5p. Meanwhile, diesel drivers are now paying 145.5p rather than the usual 139.2p.

FairFuelUK’s Howard Cox said that pump prices were likely to increase by between 3p and 5p next week = and accused ‘opportunistic’ petrol stations of profiteering.

‘We want fair prices for consumers,’ Mr Cox said, ‘but right now Britain’s motorists are being ripped off under the smokescreen of the chaos. Hardworking people are simply being fleeced.’ 

A customer at the Gulf petrol station at Sloane Services charging £2.93 a litre told the Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s not ideal, it’s certainly very expensive, but under the circumstances, I don’t think I’ve got much choice.’ 

A member of staff at the petrol station said: ‘We are not responsible for setting the prices.’

Military personnel will start distributing fuel from tomorrow. At a Co-op filling station in Swanley, Kent, soldiers were yesterday given lessons by staff on filling the fuel station reservoir from a tanker. 

Boris Johnson today dodged on whether food and fuel shortages will last until Christmas – as he warned that ‘uncontrolled immigration’ is not the answer.

The PM insisted chaos at petrol stations ‘is abating’ as he gave an interview kicking off the Tories’ annual conference in Manchester.

But he conceded that many people – particularly in London and the South East – are still struggling to fill up vehicles amid driver shortages and supply chain disruption.

He said the country is going through a ‘period of adjustment’ to a higher-wage economy after Brexit.

Repeatedly pressed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show over whether Chancellor Rishi Sunak had been right to warn recently that the issues could last until Christmas, Mr Johnson said: ‘Rishi is right invariably in what he says.’ But he stressed it depended on how his comments were ‘interpreted’.

Mr Johnson also angrily denied that he was imposing too much tax on the country, saying the government had been hit with a ‘fiscal meteorite’ in the form of the pandemic.

He declined completely to rule out increasing taxes again – despite Cabinet ministers warning that the burden is as high as Britons can tolerate.

And he prayed Margaret Thatcher in aid, saying she would not have kept borrowing money to finance public services.

Mr Johnson warmed up for his busy day in Manchester by going for a morning run. But he sparked bewilderment as he was photographed jogging in a suit shirt, shorts and what appeared to be formal shoes and socks. It is not clear whether the PM had forgotten to pack his kit, or was cunningly saving on washing.

The Tory gathering is happened against the backdrop of the fuel crisis, which has led to a critical shortage of petrol on forecourts in London and the South East. 

Environment minister Zac Goldsmith has said the ongoing petrol crisis is a ‘good lesson’ in the need for the dependence on fossil fuels to end.

In an interview with The Independent, Lord Goldsmith said queues at petrol stations amid current shortages should serve as a reminder of the need to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles.

He also dismissed fears the current difficulties could make it harder to achieve political and public backing for an agreement to tackle the climate emergency at the forthcoming Cop26 summit in Glasgow.

In an effort to encourage calm, Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday insisted that the fuel crisis is ‘stabilising’ in most parts of the country and the military is being deployed as a ‘precaution’.

‘I think it is right that as a precaution the Government has asked the military to help,’ he told Sky News. ‘I think that is the right measure to take to make sure that people have all the confidence that they need. I think that will further stabilise the situation and give more confidence.’

Data from the PRA yesterday showed that 16 per cent of petrol stations have no fuel – an improvement on more than a quarter on Friday. Mr Madderson said: ‘In the North, Scotland, some parts of the Midlands there was a distinct improvement in fewer dry sites.’

Despite that, there are still concerns over the shortage of HGV drivers. The Government announced on Friday that 300 fuel drivers would be able to come to Britain from abroad ‘immediately’ as part of a bespoke visa programme that will last until March.

Another 4,700 other visas intended for foreign food haulage drivers will extend beyond the initial period of three months and will instead last from late October to the end of February.

In addition, 5,500 poultry workers will also be allowed in to keep supermarket shelves full ahead of Christmas.