Strike sparks extra tanker call

Tankers have started to restock filling stations

More fuel tankers could be requested for Devon and Cornwall to ensure the counties do not experience fuel supply problems, a minister has said.

Nearly 600 petrol stations in Devon and Cornwall ran out of supplies on the final day of a four-day industrial dispute by tanker drivers over pay.

Local business leaders said the strike had had a "horrifying" impact.

South West Minister Ben Bradshaw said he had asked government departments for assistance if more strikes went ahead.

It's actually been a shortage of tankers being able to distribute enough fuel Ben Bradshaw MP

The effects of the strike by tanker drivers working for oil company Shell, which ended on Monday, was felt in petrol stations across both counties.

Although only Shell forecourts were due to be affected, panic buying caused a ripple effect at other filling stations, the Devon and Cornwall Business Council said.

Although restocking has started across Devon and Cornwall, the council added that it expected some stations would have to wait until Friday for new supplies while the threat of another strike remained for the coming weekend.

Business Council chairman Tim Jones told BBC News: "The impact of this right across the board is absolutely horrifying.

"The frustration and anger among the business community is growing by the hour.

"Fuel prices are already high, there is a credit crunch and this is the last straw. Businesses are on their knees."

Avoiding problems

Although the main supply depot for both counties - at Cattedown in Plymouth - was picketed during the strike, Mr Bradshaw said it was not just this that had caused the problems.

He said: "The big problem, as I understand it, has not been the shortage of depots, it's actually been a shortage of tankers being able to distribute enough fuel for the requirements of filling stations.

"One of the things I've raised with the departments responsible in London for such a contingency is whether they can do anything."

Unions representing tanker drivers working for Shell reached a deal with employers in their pay dispute on Tuesday, averting a new strike later this week.