Army to start delivering much-needed fuel in UK

The army will start delivering fuel to the United Kingdom's dried-up gas stations on Monday as the country's petrol crisis drags on.

The run on fuel, which caused many of the nation’s 8,000 filling stations to run dry and that triggered traffic gridlock around pumps that continued to work, started on Sept 24, after news reports said a shortage of delivery drivers could cause problems.

The government claimed the panic at the pumps, which included multi-hour waits and occasional fist-fights, was more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than an actual shortage because people were trying to fill up when they normally would not, and some were even stockpiling coveted fuel as demand shot up.

But regardless of whether the fuel crisis was caused by the shortage of drivers or by people panicking, it remained a major problem on Sunday, some 10 days after it began, the Petrol Retailers Association reported.

But it told Sky News the 16 percent of gas stations that were dry on Saturday was an improvement on the 27 percent that had no fuel on Friday.

"While the situation is similar to recent days, there are signs that it is improving, but far too slowly," Gordon Balmer, the group's executive director, told the broadcaster.

The association said supplies were still critical in London and the southeast but were a little better in most other parts of the nation.

Sajid Javid, the UK's health secretary, told the BBC things were, at least, no longer deteriorating.

"It seems the situation is stabilizing," he said. "It's not completely over yet; that’s one of the reasons that the army have been asked to help."

The Financial Times said the army will contribute 200 military tanker operators immediately, including 100 HGV drivers, in a mobilization called Operation Escalin.

The paper said London will also relax visa requirements, so 5,000 drivers who are qualified to operate heavy goods vehicles, or HGVs, can be recruited from the European Union. The paper said the UK needs a total of 100,000 additional HGV drivers for all sectors of its haulage sector.

That driver shortage was reportedly caused by the UK leaving the EU, from which many HGV drivers were recruited in the past, and by the novel coronavirus pandemic and an aging workforce.

The Guardian newspaper said the UK's shortage of HGV drivers is also impacting other parts of the supply chain and is already causing people to worry about whether they will be able to get the food, drink, gifts, and decorations British people buy in large quantities for their Christmas celebrations, which are centered on Dec 25.

The paper said many shoppers are planning ahead and have already been ordering provisions.

A shortage of meat processing workers will compound problems and look certain to hit the festive season, The Guardian said. Grocery chain Iceland told the paper sales of frozen turkeys have shot up by 409 percent this year as a result.