Panic buying and huge queues: British gas stations are running out of fuel - Association warns: "We are drying out"

After Brexit, thousands of truck drivers are missing in Great Britain.

Many gas stations are drying up.

The situation is so serious that the government in London is now activating an emergency plan. 

London - The fuel shortage at British petrol stations is getting worse. Two out of three gas stations on the island are now out of fuel, warns the Petrol Retailers Association. It represents around 5500 independent petrol stations on the island. The demand is up to 500 percent higher, said association boss Brian Madderson the broadcaster BBC Radio 4. Madderson said 50 to 90 percent of the gas stations are empty, the others threatened to dry up soon.

There are currently bottlenecks in gasoline and diesel at numerous petrol stations in Great Britain, and for days there have been panic buying and long queues.

The background to this is a huge shortage of truck drivers, which had previously led to empty supermarket shelves.

Because of the corona pandemic, a number of driving lessons and tests have been postponed.

In addition, around 20,000 skilled workers, mainly from Eastern Europe, emigrated because of the Brexit - but new, strict immigration rules are now preventing immigration.

Great Britain lacks 5,000 truck drivers

To combat the problems, the government plans to issue work visas for up to 5,000 foreign truck drivers, among other things.

Association chief Madderson criticized that the government project falls short.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had long resisted visa exemptions because one of Brexit's goals was to end free movement.

With a package of measures, the government now also wants to enable tens of thousands of additional driving tests per year.

In addition, working conditions are to be improved.

As the newspaper "The Times" reported, soldiers are to step in as truck drivers at short notice.

However, it could take a week before they are ready for use.

British government activated emergency plan

Economics minister Kwasi Kwarteng suspended competition rules on Sunday evening so that the industry can work together against the bottlenecks.

"There are long-standing contingency plans to work with industry to keep fuel supplies going and deliveries to be made in the event of a serious disruption," said Kwarteng.

He stressed that there was enough fuel but admitted problems with the supply chains.