# Panic buying fuel



## TicTac (29 March 2012)

Stupid, selfish people have run most of the petrol stations dry in my area panic buying fuel. I usually get my fuel on a friday but I'll be lucky if I can get any and I cartainly can't afford to fill up my landrover completely.

I do about 300 miles a week, going to work, back and forth to my horses and the odd journey in between but I am of the opinion that if I can't get any diesel then I will cycle to and from the yard and not go to work, simple!!

I refuse to get caught up in the hysteria especially as the tanker drivers are'nt even on strike yet. However is does make you realise how much we rely on fuel to go about our every day lives.


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## darkhorse123 (29 March 2012)

im afraid im one of those stupid people - my car was near empty and my horse is a 2 hour walk away on diy on a yard we have only just moved to and i dont know anyone - hes literally in the middle of nowhere. So yes I panicked and filled up this morning - In my defence I wasnt panicking about the possible strike but about  how its plastered all over fb and on the news that the petrol stations are running dry!

I live in the middle of nowhere and petrol stations are few and far between - a nightmare


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## JadeyyBabeyy (29 March 2012)

all our local are out! if i have no fuel mum or dad will drive me to work (2 mornings about 8miles away) then cycle home!
i AM NOT panic buying!


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## TicTac (29 March 2012)

I would like to add that I live in the middle of nowhere and work in the middle of nowhere too but I still refuse to get caught up in this mayhem!


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## GeeBee45 (29 March 2012)

Brilliant move by a few overpaid politicians (or their advisers). Divert attention away from the embarrassing 'come dine with Dave' story and deflect the flack onto a hate group; in this instance it is a union but I guess Bankers or Civil Servants would have worked almost as well.

Well, the Mondeo will get the petrol it needs for next week put in the tank tomorrow. It gets done that way every week 'cos wages go in on a Friday and they usually evaporate by Monday. The Shogun will get enough diesel put in it to get to the yard on the days that the Mondeo and I won't be around.

I will not be filling up a Jerry Can, an illegal act anyway, won't be storing fuel in the garage or anywhere else at home and I certainly won't be doing a 'topping up' that's really guaranteed to make things difficult.

I wouldn't mind but there is no strike called and folk are doing the headless chicken act. Think I'll walk down to the local and have a chill.


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## TicTac (29 March 2012)

I pulled into a petrol station this morning to get a paper and some sweets and there were no cars on the forecourt. I thought, at least no panic buying in this area only to notice that the reason there were no cars was because there was'nt any fuel!

Once this possible tankers strike is sorted and we're all back to normal, Bottled water will be the next commodity people start panic buying!


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## perfect11s (29 March 2012)

GeeBee45 said:



			Brilliant move by a few overpaid politicians (or their advisers). Divert attention away from the embarrassing 'come dine with Dave' story and deflect the flack onto a hate group; in this instance it is a union but I guess Bankers or Civil Servants would have worked almost as well.

Well, the Mondeo will get the petrol it needs for next week put in the tank tomorrow. It gets done that way every week 'cos wages go in on a Friday and they usually evaporate by Monday. The Shogun will get enough diesel put in it to get to the yard on the days that the Mondeo and I won't be around.

I will not be filling up a Jerry Can, an illegal act anyway, won't be storing fuel in the garage or anywhere else at home and I certainly won't be doing a 'topping up' that's really guaranteed to make things difficult.

I wouldn't mind but there is no strike called and folk are doing the headless chicken act. Think I'll walk down to the local and have a chill.
		
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 stupid people panicing and stupid people for voting for this shower or the other lot the  last time !! anyone who votes for the main partys deserve all they get, wish people would think before voting not just put the cross next to who mum and dad voted for  and yes a great way of burying the fact they are shiesters and not fit to run a bath...


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## miketdt (29 March 2012)

BeeGee45 Whats illegal about storing diesel in a jerry can?


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## L&M (29 March 2012)

No probs at my local garage, but allegedly no fuel in any of the stations in Shrewsbury?!

Admit I did fill 1 jerry can for my quad as reliant on it to drive round the farm to feed the horses - don't care about the car so much as will ride to the shops if necessary!!!!

Utter madness......


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## dianeholmes (29 March 2012)

Miketdt - a fire officer was on the radio this morning explaining that a jerry can holds 20 litres of fuel and the legal limit is 2x 5 litre petrol cans to be stored in domestic settings.

I think the daft politician meant fill a petrol can not realising that a jerry can refers to  a specific quantity. 

The situation here is mixed -some places sold out, others ok!

We run a pet food delivery service and no fuel would mean no business! Just hoping it all blows over without any action.


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## Rambo (30 March 2012)

I put fuel in the truck yesterday as it was almost empty. Didn't fill it but did put a bit extra in. I don't consider it panic buying...more protecting my interests.

I'm more concerned about this weekend as I have a 400 mile round trip to do and don't want to run short before I get home. 

Unfortunately we're all dependent on fuel in one way or another whether we like it or not.


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## Little Squirrel (30 March 2012)

I went out yesterday morning passing the nearest petrol station 10 miles away. Laughing at all the idiots queing. On the way home however my very thirsty jeep needed a drink, all but one of the pumps were empty and I had to join the que for the last remaining working pump. It's utter madness. What WILL happen WHEN they DO go on strike?


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## DragonSlayer (30 March 2012)

I went to buy fuel for my truck yesterday and sat 40 minutes in  a queue.  I wasn't panic buying, just putting fuel in me truck as usual, like I do once every 2 weeks to cart the horses about!

They said they were shutting the night pumps at 10pm whether there was fuel left or not, as on the CCTV, it showed people there all the night before filling 45 gallon drums in the back of trucks!! Talk about a bomb in your garage...!

Some people are just plain loonies. OH (recovery driver, fills his van tank everyday, sometimes twice, depending on the mileage he does) got stuck behind a couple of old dears putting £3 to top up their car, then got upset when the garage told them they couldn't fill all the millions of fuel containers they had in the boot 'but I bought them especially!'....they were allowed to fill 2 of them.


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## DragonSlayer (30 March 2012)

Little Squirrel said:



			What WILL happen WHEN they DO go on strike?
		
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When and IF it's announced, every last loaf of bread, bottle of milk and water will disappear off the shelves in a matter of hours.....


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## Tr0uble (30 March 2012)

I won't be panic buying. I filled my car on Tuesday morning, as normal, on my way to work (hour commute each way) and have used half so far. I'll fill up again when I would normally fill up....and if ere is no fuel I will work from home.

Horse is walking distance, that's all I care about!


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## M_G (30 March 2012)

Its blooming stupid & I usually fill up on a Friday but I havent got the time to wait about for an hour or so to queue so It will have to be a Saturday morning fill up after the horses have been done... I am not looking forward to it


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## Spudlet (30 March 2012)

I just put a full tank in instead of half a tank, but that's it. The local supermarket petrol station was crammed, if the queue gets any worse it will start blocking the main road through the town and that will cause trouble! It's already impossible to get in or out of the supermarket carpark itself. The other garage had run out of everything apart from unleaded. I was right on the red line, or I wouldn't have bothered to be honest.

Luckily I don't have to drive other than to get to work, so that tank should last a couple of weeks.


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## Shellby27 (30 March 2012)

I had to fill up this morning as I was on my reserve tank. I usually fill my tank anyway so nothing unusal there. However, the coach company I work for have to fill up daily at petrol stations as we haven't got our own tank at the yard. I couldn't get any anywhere yesterday and prayed that my 1/4 tank of diesel would get the kiddies to school! I'm off today, but my poor husband and some collegues have been up since 4am driving around trying to get some diesel so that they can run a service!!!


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## woodtiger (30 March 2012)

My husband works as an a estate manager locally and has been told that instead of getting on with his day to day tasks, he is spending the day driving around and buying emergancy petrol for the uber-wealthy son's four vehicles. 

Meanwhile I needed to fill my car up - I usually need to fill up every ten-fourteen days to get to and from work/yard and have about 30 miles of fuel left. I refused to panic buy earlier in the week, and am late for work after queuing for half an hours this morning.

I am now in a bad mood which is not appropriate for a payday Friday.

* flounces off to panic buy some stamps and a hot pasty*


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## Vetwrap (30 March 2012)

Husband was scheduled to be in Oxford this morning for a meeting.  He got up at 5am and drove round every petrol station in a 8 mile radius and there was no fuel.  No petrol, no diesel.  With 40 miles left in the car, he came home.

I'm lucky in that, I can and should cycle to work...

Guess the health kick starts next week then.


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## Amymay (30 March 2012)

Not too much sign of panic buying where I live.  Got petrol no problem yesteday.


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## Fellewell (30 March 2012)

Agree with GeeBee45 on the 'burying bad news' angle.

Just heard on news, a woman has been badly burned pouring petrol from one can to another. People don't realise how explosive the fumes are. 

This was all totally avoidable


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## Spudlet (30 March 2012)

Poor woman

They may have meant to bury bad news, but to be honest they have just made themselves look completely incompetant and out of touch with ordinary people's lives. It's all very well to say don't panic when you work in London, with good public transport links and if you're a Minister, a car service. It's a bit different for people with no public transport, jobs to get to, children to get to school, doctor's appointments to attend, food shopping to get...

All this stuff about 'just fill up with a full tank instead of half a tank' shows a total lack of understanding of the logistics involved in dealing with the sudden, increased demand for fuel (how many people normally get a full tank?) and basic human nature. I think they are fools, frankly.


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## PaddyMonty (30 March 2012)

The whole thing will blow over in a couple of days due to one simple fact.
The usage (not demand, usage) of fuel has not suddenly changed in this country.  All that has happened is people are now wanting to drive around with almost full tanks as opposed to half tanks.
Once all these poeple have added the extra fuel which is a one off exercise the demand will return to normal and the queues will disappear.


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## woodtiger (30 March 2012)

There is a sign on M27 saying no diesel at Fleet services.  Rownhams services was packed.  There will be accidents as a result of this.


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## Burnttoast (30 March 2012)

Don't think it counts as panic buying if you've got an empty tank, just buying! I had 9 miles to fill-up on my car's display last night so couldn't afford to drive around looking for fuel. I just phoned my locals until I found one with fuel (the third I tried) and went there. Short wait later I had a full tank and by the time I need to fill up again there probably will be a strike!


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## Naryafluffy (30 March 2012)

Spudlet said:



			All this stuff about 'just fill up with a full tank instead of half a tank' shows a total lack of understanding of the logistics involved in dealing with the sudden, increased demand for fuel (how many people normally get a full tank?) and basic human nature. I think they are fools, frankly.
		
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Is it just coincidence that they advised this 6 days before the end of the financial year, wonder how the tax coffers look now that they have been boosted by all the panic buying, I've got half a tank left, horse on full livery and can get the train to work, I'll deal with it if and when I have to I normally only have to fill up my tank every 21days or so, this time I may not play the game of how many miles can I go on the red warning though.


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## Miss L Toe (30 March 2012)

Naryafluffy said:



			Is it just coincidence that they advised this 6 days before the end of the financial year, wonder how the tax coffers look now that they have been boosted by all the panic buying, I've got half a tank left, horse on full livery and can get the train to work, I'll deal with it if and when I have to I normally only have to fill up my tank every 21days or so, this time I may not play the game of how many miles can I go on the red warning though.
		
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It is a coincidence as they have not got enough brain cells between them to work out the implications to the Treasury.
Politicians should be made to travel on public transport these free cars are a complete waste of taxpayers money they should be like other people and have to pay for their own transport to work, no more freebies. Round here they would have to thumb a lift anywhere off the main road, and obviously no transport after  8.30 pm
If I can't get fuel I will have to stop working as I need the fuel to go to the horse,


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## Ibblebibble (30 March 2012)

I'm just going to put my normal £40 in as usual when i need it and if the strike happens i will cycle to the horses and not go to work it's so stupid to panic and buy now as the strike hasn't even been called and when they do they have to give 7 days notice, so all those idiots filing up now will have run out by then anyway so what have they achieved apart from doubling the govts income from petrol taxes!!!


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## Spudlet (30 March 2012)

£23m up in the tax coffers, at least according to the Indy.

Still, at least the price of petrol has gone down... oh no hang on...


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## fatpiggy (30 March 2012)

I drive 60 miles a day from home to horse, horse to work and reverse that in the evenings.  Late last night no garage near my house had any fuel at all and by the time I got to work I had enough in the tank for about 10 miles - with a 30 mile journey home ahead of me so thanks very much to the legion of topper-uppers. I even put my folding bike in the boot of the car and a pair of cycling longs just in case I had to bale out (cycling in jeans ain't comfortable). My journey only takes me past 3 petrol stations anyway, one is on the other side of the road which means waiting to turn right in the outside lane of a 50 limit road, in a hidden dip, and there was a queue anyway, one was closed and the other fleeced me for £146.9 per gallon but at least I have about 5 days worth now. Theiving profiteering barstewards.  My monthly petrol spend is more than £250 at prices in the 130s.  Of course the idiot panic buyers have also laid everyone wide open to much higher prices - well we happily paid over the odds this week, didn't we, so when it goes up 3p a litre in August we won't be able to complain. Morons.

The only satisfaction I have is that I plan to have my old girl PTS at the end of the summer (don't won't to see her struggle through another winter) and I will then commute to work on the local train so the petrol stations will only see me once a month and the government won't be getting all that tax out of me. HA!!


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## MagicMelon (30 March 2012)

TicTac said:



			I would like to add that I live in the middle of nowhere and work in the middle of nowhere too but I still refuse to get caught up in this mayhem!
		
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Same here.  I filled up yesterday but only because I was on red!  One petrol station near work had run dry yesterday, but the other one I went to was ok.  Not crazy amount of people at mine.  Problem up here is that we have to stay quite topped up most of the time because its NE Scotland and our nearest petrol station is a 20 min drive away...


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## Seahorse (30 March 2012)

I have just over half a tank and in my little car that's a good 200 miles so I'm not worrying just yet. I don't have to drive much anyway only the school run and that's 4 miles each way. It's the easter holidays now so I won't be doing that now, luckily!


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## Dovorian (30 March 2012)

Having found somewhere (12 miles away) with diesel, I watched  3 vans filling numerous jerry cans with fuel, goodness knows how much in litres. However the petrol station allowed them to 'stockpile'.It all seems flaming wrong!


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## TicTac (30 March 2012)

My husband told me today that a friend of his queued for 20 minutes behind a lady who  managed to ' squeeze' £4.00 worth of fuel into her car. When she was asked why she waited so long for such a small amount of fuel the lady replied

"well the government has told us to keep our tanks topped up, so that's what I've done!"

Now that IS stupid!


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## Hunters (30 March 2012)

I have a friend who is going to have to cancel competing tomorrow, due to lack of fuel. All petrol stations that their HGV lorry fits into have sold out of diesel.....


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## Shantara (30 March 2012)

I'm just glad I don't have responsibility for Ned yet! I can't drive yet and my parents are refusing to drive anywhere and buses are AWFUL where I live. I'm feeling a little trapped


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## JFTDWS (30 March 2012)

It's absurd.  I filled up one car the other night as I was 40 miles away and didn't have enough to get home and I was not amused by waiting half an hour for fuel, bought in small volumes by people who seemed to be picking up their groceries in the shop and generally not utilising the time-saving "pay at pump" options 

I need to get diesel at some point tomorrow or I won't make it to horseball and back.  I don't think places are out so it's not a major problem, but the whole situation makes me want to smash people's heads together


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## Alyth (31 March 2012)

fatpiggy said:



			I drive 60 miles a day from home to horse, horse to work and reverse that in the evenings.  Late last night no garage near my house had any fuel at all and by the time I got to work I had enough in the tank for about 10 miles - with a 30 mile journey home ahead of me so thanks very much to the legion of topper-uppers. I even put my folding bike in the boot of the car and a pair of cycling longs just in case I had to bale out (cycling in jeans ain't comfortable). My journey only takes me past 3 petrol stations anyway, one is on the other side of the road which means waiting to turn right in the outside lane of a 50 limit road, in a hidden dip, and there was a queue anyway, one was closed and the other fleeced me for £146.9 per gallon but at least I have about 5 days worth now. Theiving profiteering barstewards.  My monthly petrol spend is more than £250 at prices in the 130s.  Of course the idiot panic buyers have also laid everyone wide open to much higher prices - well we happily paid over the odds this week, didn't we, so when it goes up 3p a litre in August we won't be able to complain. Morons.

The only satisfaction I have is that I plan to have my old girl PTS at the end of the summer (don't won't to see her struggle through another winter) and I will then commute to work on the local train so the petrol stations will only see me once a month and the government won't be getting all that tax out of me. HA!!
		
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I can't believe your price is right!!! 146 pounds sterling (don't have the pounds sign on my puta!) a gallon????  Even after our earthquake in Christchurch gas didn't get to that price!!!  But most of us now fill up when we are getting to half way!!!  Even those of us not in an earthquake zone - as far as we know!!  All I can say is thank goodness we emigrated here to New Zealand!!!!


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## perfect11s (31 March 2012)

Alyth said:



			I can't believe your price is right!!! 146 pounds sterling (don't have the pounds sign on my puta!) a gallon????  Even after our earthquake in Christchurch gas didn't get to that price!!!  But most of us now fill up when we are getting to half way!!!  Even those of us not in an earthquake zone - as far as we know!!  All I can say is thank goodness we emigrated here to New Zealand!!!!
		
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Fortunatly I think it was a typo!!!!! however petrol is a around a  eye watering 140 pence per liter
and diesel 145 pence  but no distance licence here,  most of it is tax to pay for two unnessary wars , huge foreign aid to fund dictators ,  a enormous contibution to the EU, and a massive welfare budget to support the unimployed young brits now we have a more efficent imigrant work force doing their jobs....


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## Miss L Toe (31 March 2012)

Hunters said:



			I have a friend who is going to have to cancel competing tomorrow, due to lack of fuel. All petrol stations that their HGV lorry fits into have sold out of diesel.....
		
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Diesel is a lot safer to handle than petrol, so she may be able to top up lorry using jerrycans. 
I went in to local garage [repairs not fuel], to find he has had a delivery of ten huge jerrycans, now I know he is not allowed to store petrol [H&H] so I assume he is going to take it home with him.


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## Goldenstar (31 March 2012)

I went yesterday for fuel filled up cost over £110 when  I was paying the lady said that the queues are being caused by people putting often less than £ 10 worth and they are thinking of having a no less than £25 rule to stop the lines of cars.
It's madness had to go vets in the next town yesterday no fuel there and the one fifteen miles north of us has none to.
Only one fuel station in the town I live near so when it's empty that's that.


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## 4x4 (31 March 2012)

Although  last  night's news said the strike was cancelled!


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## Devonshire dumpling (31 March 2012)

Husband is a Firefighter and they have had loads of shouts to people over filling at fuel stations.. dohhhhhhhh


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## Alec Swan (31 March 2012)

Am I the only one who read the heading as "Panic buying *foal*"?

What is it about society,  when an idiot the likes of Jonesy from Dad's Army,  shouts out "Don't panic",  a line which we all laugh at,  but when it happens in real life,  the world goes daft?

We always have to fear something,  don't we?  In the '40s it was the Germans,  in the '50's it was the Commies,  and now it's Islamic terrorists,  and no fuel.  FFS,  our world's gone mad.

Alec.


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## Goldenstar (31 March 2012)

Let's aggree the world has indeed gone mad.


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## fatpiggy (3 April 2012)

perfect11s said:



			Fortunatly I think it was a typo!!!!! however petrol is a around a  eye watering 140 pence per liter
and diesel 145 pence  but no distance licence here,  most of it is tax to pay for two unnessary wars , huge foreign aid to fund dictators ,  a enormous contibution to the EU, and a massive welfare budget to support the unimployed young brits now we have a more efficent imigrant work force doing their jobs....
		
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A typo indeed!  Sorry about that. Interestingly, the thieving pigs have now dropped the price to £1 43.9 now the panic is over.  My normal garage is still selling at £1 37.7


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## Honey08 (3 April 2012)

Interestingly, after all the garages running out of fuel round us last Weds/Thurs, I filled my car up and put the lawnmower petrol can in the boot, then drove to Heathrow from the North West on Friday.  There was not a single garage that I passed that had no fuel or any queues.  I drove back up today, and it was as though nothing happened!  So my car stinks of petrol for nothing, but at least I would have got home if there had been any shortages!


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## Shutterbug (3 April 2012)

Amazing how folk go nuts over stuff. It was the same when we had the heavy snow and people were panic buying bread and milk. One guy was stopped from buying a dozen loaves in our local shop and he went psycho in the shop, so bad that the police had to be called.  The BP garage at the bottom of my road shot their prices up to 146.99 for petrol, no surprise that his was the garage with no queue at all whereas Morrison's was mad busy at 137.99 a litre. I filled up on Friday morning as I always do but did not have to queue but the queue the day before was all the way back to the roundabout which brought traffic to a standstill.  Its madness....one woman was putting 3 quid in her car ffs. There needs to be some kind of idiot control put in place for these things


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## lannerch (3 April 2012)

I am stunned sp many do not usually fill their tanks completely up! I hate filling up so always cram in as much as I can ( and never fill up unless needed ) it costs the same in the long run ( unless the price of fuel goes down )


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