Rutland MP Alicia Kearns has urged motorists not to panic buy petrol.

Her comments follow drivers queuing outside petrol stations doing exactly that.

They follow reports of shortgales of petrol, caused by a lack of delivery drivers.

The MP said today: "There is NO shortage of fuel supply in the UK.

"Please do not mass buy - it will cause a shortage AT petrol stations which have what is needed based on NORMAL consumption, not the amounts needed for people unnecessarily filling / stocking up with cans.

"There is plenty of fuel in big tanks at refineries and import terminals."

She continued: "What we need is for everyone to not mass-buy petrol and cause a shortage at the petrol stations. Unfounded panic buying will cause the problem.

"Please continue to buy fuel as normal. I'm sure we all remember the utterly unhelpful behaviour of some regarding household items.

"Some Petrol stations are now limiting purchases to prevent unhelpful consumer behaviour and some closing because demand is WAY above normal (some say 4x as much) and far above amounts of petrol that petrol stations had ordered."

The MP added: "On HGV drivers, yes we need more. But this is not unique to the UK. Poland has a shortage of HGV drivers. Germany is 80k short. We now have twice as many HGV tests available, drivers now only need to do one test to drive both a rigid and articulated lorry, we are also freeing up examiners from other areas to focus on HGV tests, we've increased funding for HGV apprentices and offering incentive payments for hires, and temporarily relaxing the rules around drivers' hours to give more flexibility.

"Please do not contribute to creating a problem with fuel at petrol stations.