Petrol panic buying

[DelayRepay]

I don't have a car.

Wouldn't matter if you did. Looks like petrol will be the next thing to run out.

I went to Tesco this evening for shopping. Cars were queueing down the road to get into the petrol station. And half the pumps were coned off.

 

[TPO]

Wouldn't matter if you did. Looks like petrol will be the next thing to run out.

I went to Tesco this evening for shopping. Cars were queueing down the road to get into the petrol station. And half the pumps were coned off.

Yeah, that's down to BBC fearmongering. A minor issue of a very few places having delayed fuel deliveries became *pending fuel shortage* on the news front page, so of course the panic buying started. Self fulfilling prophecy to create a story which allows the beeb guardianistas to wring hands.

About time the scaremongering hacks were held accountable

TPO

 

[ChrisC]

Yeah, that's down to BBC fearmongering. A minor issue of a very few places having delayed fuel deliveries became *pending fuel shortage* on the news front page, so of course the panic buying started. Self fulfilling prophecy to create a story which allows the beeb guardianistas to wring hands.

About time the scaremongering hacks were held accountable

TPO

The 6.30pm ITV News was far worse than the BBC. It was the main headlines.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The 6.30pm ITV News was far worse than the BBC. It was the main headlines.

Lead story again on the 10.00 pm ITV news. Affecting primarily some BP (and a few Texaco) filling stations.

 

[fraser158]

I did a shift in a Tesco petrol station tonight and we were fine fuel wise.

We did have a shortage of momentum (higher octane) fuel for a couple of weeks though, I think that is down to people being concerned about the new E10 unleaded petrol and getting the momentum instead.

Info about E10:

E10 petrol explained

Learn about the benefits of E10 petrol and use our vehicle checker to confirm whether your vehicle is compatible with E10.

www.gov.uk

During summer 2021, the standard (95 octane) petrol grade in Great Britain will become E10. In Northern Ireland, this will happen in early 2022.

The change in fuel applies to petrol only. Diesel fuel will not be changing.

Almost all (95%) petrol-powered vehicles on the road today can use E10 petrol and all cars built since 2011 are compatible.

If your petrol vehicle or equipment is not compatible with E10 fuel, you will still be able to use E5 by purchasing the ‘super’ grade (97+ octane) petrol from most filling stations.

Petrol pumps will clearly label petrol as either E10 or E5.

 

[davews]

As it happened I filled up yesterday morning before the petrol news hit. With my mileage (virtually nil) it will keep me going for quite a while. First time with the new E10 which the compatibility site assures me is fine in my 2004 Fiesta.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Oh dear I am a bit low on fuel in my Vectra (2.2) at the moment which is not compatible with the E10 fuel so the E5 it has to be.

Damn scaremongering.

 

[MikeWM]

Wouldn't matter if you did. Looks like petrol will be the next thing to run out.

I wonder if the home delivery vans will get priority?!

In any event, it turns out that the physical store has a massive sign up advertising for 'temporary workers' in pretty much every job available in a supermarket (including home delivery drivers, so that probably explains that). I'm not sure I've seen that before in the 5+ years I've been going there. I wonder where the staff have gone? (Probably not a seasonal thing like in a lot of places, due to Ely not having a university etc.)

I did also note when walking through the centre of Ely that a lot of other shops had notes up saying they were temporarily closed 'due to staff sickness'.

All rather odd.

 

[kristiang85]

There are queues all the way down the road to our local Morrisons petrol station.

Although I fervently believe in a free media, ours is starting go take the p***. This is entirely down to their scaremongering. And you'll soon see them mock those who are now going down to fill up.

 

[DelayRepay]

There are queues all the way down the road to our local Morrisons petrol station.

Although I fervently believe in a free media, ours is starting go take the p***. This is entirely down to their scaremongering. And you'll soon see them mock those who are now going down to fill up.

It's like the bog roll all over again.

It's not just the media though. The government's reputation is such that when the Transport Secretary goes on TV to reassure everyone that there's no shortage, everyone jumps in their cars to fill up because they know, sure as night follows day, that by the middle of next week there will be a shortage.

Then the Transport Secretary will go on TV again and say there's a shortage because of selfish people buying more than they needed, so now we're going to have to introduce restrictions...

 

[SteveM70]

It's not just the media though. The government's reputation is such that when the Transport Secretary goes on TV to reassure everyone that there's no shortage, everyone jumps in their cars to fill up because they know, sure as night follows day, that by the middle of next week there will be a shortage.

Exactly. In the last week we’ve had Shapps saying no shortage of fuel, Kwarteng saying the lights won’t go out, and Johnson saying Christmas won’t be cancelled. None of them inspire confidence

Shapps also used another from the Tory lexicon of nonsense. We’ve had “straining every sinew”, “working night and day”, “working 24 hours a day”, “working tirelessly” etc etc. Now it’s “moving heaven and earth”. I just hope he’s got some drivers lined up for that job

 

[HST274]

Yeah, that's down to BBC fearmongering. A minor issue of a very few places having delayed fuel deliveries became *pending fuel shortage* on the news front page, so of course the panic buying started. Self fulfilling prophecy to create a story which allows the beeb guardianistas to wring hands.

About time the scaremongering hacks were held accountable

TPO

Totally agree. Fully down to media scaremongering, which leads to the story becoming true as people panic.

 

[RichJF]

I came home from my office in Coulsdon. Popped into the local Esso as my motorbike was flashing empty.
Huge queue onto to the A23. Interestingly nobody was using E5/Super. All waiting for the E10 95 octane. So I filtered past, filled up with Super Unleaded & carried on.

There was a woman who was actually crying in the queue & getting stressed, despite having an argument with a builder & shouting she wasn't empty but needed to fill up!

 

[Strat-tastic]

There are queues all the way down the road to our local Morrisons petrol station.

Although I fervently believe in a free media, ours is starting go take the p***. This is entirely down to their scaremongering. And you'll soon see them mock those who are now going down to fill up.

They'll comment on a problem partly of their own making, yet consistently fail to recognise this. Doctor, heal thyself!

 

[greyman42]

Exactly. In the last week we’ve had Shapps saying no shortage of fuel, Kwarteng saying the lights won’t go out, and Johnson saying Christmas won’t be cancelled. None of them inspire confidence

Shapps also used another from the Tory lexicon of nonsense. We’ve had “straining every sinew”, “working night and day”, “working 24 hours a day”, “working tirelessly” etc etc. Now it’s “moving heaven and earth”. I just hope he’s got some drivers lined up for that job

I would not blame the government for this one. If the government had said nothing then the media would be dishing out headlines such as "Country in crisis and the silence from the government is deafening".
I think that the latest panic buying has been caused by media scaremongering and people daft enough to get involved in it.

 

[Gloster]

It is media scaremongering, but the government has (as usual) failed to give early and clear information of what is going on. Although, with its record, it is quite likely that few will pay any attention to anything it says. There is a growing loss in confidence in the government’s competence and honesty, or even willingness to tackle unpleasant tasks.

 

[HST274]

Two pumps cordoned off at my local petrol station now though no queues.

 

[Butts]

Nothing compared to the late 2000 shortages !!

 

[james60059]

Queues on Bond Street in Hinckley earlier, for the Esso garage, so much so an ambulance on blue lights struggled to get through, not helped by some queue jumpers on the wrong side of the road

 

[bramling]

There are queues all the way down the road to our local Morrisons petrol station.

Although I fervently believe in a free media, ours is starting go take the p***. This is entirely down to their scaremongering. And you'll soon see them mock those who are now going down to fill up.

Agreed. Our media is utterly dire, and has been for a while.

Not sure how this is addressed though, we hardly want a state-run media either.

I actually had to fill up this evening. Used my local Shell, busy but not manic - one car in front of me. Diesel and normal unleaded all gone, but no problem getting VPower which is my normal anyway. The shop was more exciting, a woman was in there trying to buy as many petrol cans as she could, think the cashier was winding her up a bit, and she was certainly rising to it - in full-blown crisis mode!

I do wonder what would happen if we had a real life-or-death crisis situation -
things would be chaos.

 

[VauxhallandI]

We filled up last night (driving back from Cornwall this morning), there was a small wait. Mainly dues to the inefficiency of the layout of the forecourt meaning you couldn’t get between cars to use all the pumps.

Some of the diesel pumps looked locked off. I am assuming you can Mia the high performance unleaded with the normal stuff?

 

[DannyMich2018]

Queues on Bond Street in Hinckley earlier, for the Esso garage, so much so an ambulance on blue lights struggled to get through, not helped by some queue jumpers on the wrong side of the road

My mum works in the Morrisons Hinckley and she said the petrol station was mad yesterday very long queues. Store was also very busy as many people had popped in to get a few groceries at the same time as fuel.

 

[brad465]

Yeah, that's down to BBC fearmongering. A minor issue of a very few places having delayed fuel deliveries became *pending fuel shortage* on the news front page, so of course the panic buying started. Self fulfilling prophecy to create a story which allows the beeb guardianistas to wring hands.

About time the scaremongering hacks were held accountable

TPO

The 6.30pm ITV News was far worse than the BBC. It was the main headlines.

It's not just broadcast media, who to be fair are also having to report on ministers getting involved, which can't really be avoided. I'd look particularly at the front pages: the S*n in particular had this front page, which really highlights sensationalism:

Agreed. Our media is utterly dire, and has been for a while.

Not sure how this is addressed though, we hardly want a state-run media either.

I'd suggest implementing Leveson's recommendations, which proposed a new independent body recognised through new laws to replace the Press Complaints Commission. Cameron dropped them though, presumably because Murdoch wouldn't have approved of them and if you don't have Murdoch onside, you don't win an election.

It's all well and good people seeing the media's irresponsible behaviour in causing panic buying, but I do wish they'd see it in other areas, including handling of Covid news, their role in peddling division in society on a number of issues, and their role in trying to influence how we vote in elections for the interests of media oligarchs, not our own interests.

 

[duncanp]

There is a petrol station next door to where I live, and the forecourt is a lot busier than normal, with cars starting to queue out on to the road.

I posted this in the support conversation thread, but it is worth repeating here.

The name of the BBC reporter covering this story is ...........Phil McCann

You couldn't make it up.

https://twitter.com/redleaderwright/status/1441658802974052353

 

[dosxuk]

What do people want the media to report? The original reports were literally that some BP stations had closed as they had no deliveries. It was entirely being reported on as a part of the HGV story. It was only then when people started worrying that they began reporting on that.

The alternative is that they ignore the story, or only report that there is enough fuel around, and then social media will be all over them for not mentioning the closures, shortages, queues or rationing.

These stories create themselves, the media reporting on it is irrelevant really, social media alone will cause the same issues. As soon as people hear that something is in short supply they want to be in the queue so they don't miss out, even if they acknowledge that doing so is silly. Just look at the results of black Friday when the supermarkets got fully on board with that - no media involvement there but people were literally fighting over stuff they didn't need.


Just to add - in this example, the number of people I've heard complaining about the media making a mountain out of a molehill, but admitting they've popped to the local petrol station to fill up just-in-case is astounding. The problem isn't the media, it's people like that who normally refuel at 20% but are doing it at 75% because it might affect them next week.

 

[brad465]

There is a petrol station next door to where I live, and the forecourt is a lot busier than normal, with cars starting to queue out on to the road.

I posted this in the support conversation thread, but it is worth repeating here.

The name of the BBC reporter covering this story is ...........Phil McCann

You couldn't make it up.

https://twitter.com/redleaderwright/status/1441658802974052353

Yes he joins an exclusive club that includes PC Rob Banks and weather presenter Sara Blizzard.

 

[A Challenge]

One of my friends is stuck in Nottingham with about a gallon in the tank and apparently the shortages there this morning have been bad - he's worried as he needs to travel over 100 miles tomorrow and so he does ned to fill up.

 

[nlogax]

Took me over half an hour to get out of the Hampton Court area all because it's awash with folks queuing to brim their tanks at the one fuel station in the vicinity. Madness.

 

[DarloRich]

I am unsure how to panic buy petrol/diesel. My car has a certain tank capacity and that's it. I cant stockpile it! What we are actually saying is that people have gone, in larger numbers than usual, to top up.

Yeah, that's down to BBC fearmongering. A minor issue of a very few places having delayed fuel deliveries became *pending fuel shortage* on the news front page, so of course the panic buying started. Self fulfilling prophecy to create a story which allows the beeb guardianistas to wring hands.

About time the scaremongering hacks were held accountable

TPO

sigh. Best get GB news on. They might tell you want you want to hear. They know the score. It is funny that most of the issue, if there is one, will have been caused by posts on local Facebook groups. Perhaps they should be held accountable.

 

[fgwrich]

My work vans are unsurprisingly running low on Diesel as a result of the panic buying. No Fuel = No home deliveries. Unfortunately there still seems to be far too many selfish people around sadly.

And if you couldn’t stoop to new lows, how about having a fight on a filling station forecourt. (On mobile so can’t quote the article).

Fight breaks out at Portsmouth forecourt, paramedics struggle to get fuel, queues grow

A FIGHT has broken out at a busy petrol station in Portsmouth as queues continue for a second day.

www.portsmouth.co.uk