Several petrol stations across Bournemouth remain closed following the ongoing shortages of HGV drivers nationally.
The Co-op petrol station on Holdenhurst, both Esso petrol stations on Charminster Road and the Esso petrol station on Bath Road are out of fuel, with long queues at the petrol stations that do have petrol and diesel.
This comes amidst pleas from education, health and social care union to prioritise key workers and frontline staff who have faced significant disruption over the past few days.
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Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, has called on ministers to take action to ensure teachers and support staff can get into work and schools and colleges can remain open.
He warned fuel shortages are expected to cause “serious difficulties” for education provision.
Dr Roach said: “For many teachers, the use of public transport is simply not an option, with many schools in areas that are not easily accessible other than by using private vehicles.
“The Government must urgently consider making teachers a priority group for access to locally available petrol and diesel fuel supplies.
“Without such intervention, many teachers will struggle to get to their places of work on time, adding to the daily uncertainty and disruption faced by children and young people.”
Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood has backed plans for the army to be mobilised to help with the shortfall of HGV drivers but noted that a long-term solution should be found.
Ministers have rejected criticism that Boris Johnson failed to mobilise the Army quickly enough as the fuel crisis showed no signs of abating.
In a pooled clip for broadcasters, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there were the first “very tentative” signs that the situation was beginning to stabilise with more fuel reaching filling stations.
He admitted, however, that it would take time before the pressure on the forecourts began to ease.
“There are now the first very tentative signs of stabilisation in forecourt storage which won’t be reflected in the queues as yet,” he said.
“But it is the first time that we have seen more petrol actually in the petrol stations.
“As the industry said yesterday, the sooner we can all return to our normal buying habits, the sooner the situation will return to normal.”
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