[14
SEP 00] FUEL PROTESTS
Public Services Running on Empty
By
ARRYN BUGGINS
Council and
public services in Warwickshire are starting to close down as
the fuel crisis begins to bite. Although protests at refineries
are over, councils cannot guarantee when fuel will arrive in
their depots
Household waste
sites operated by Warwickshire County Council will close
indefinitely from tomorrow afternoon. Grendon has already shut.
And bus
services operated by Stagecoach Midland Red will stop at 7pm
today for the second day running to preserve fuel. Buses will
run as normal until then.
School bus
services in Warwickshire are not due to run from tomorrow, but
this is still unconfirmed. Up to date information on school bus
services on 01926 412929.
Travel West
Midlands intends to run a full service for another week without
any effect.
Chiltern,
Thames and
Virgin Trains are operating as normal and do not foresee any
problems. Central Trains said it will operate a full service
until at least Monday. Connex, which operates the Rugby to
Gatwick service, said its trains are busier than normal but are
running as normal.
A Warwickshire
County Council spokesman said:
“Although
the picture is changing rapidly and some fuel supplies are now
filtering through, it will be some days before some services
are back up to full speed.
“Staff are
still being encouraged to find alternative means to work such
as car-sharing or public transport and council leader, Ian
Bottrill, has sent a message to staff thanking them for their
sustained efforts in making it into work.
“All
essential social services such as home care, homes for older
people, and day care services, are being maintained in
partnership with internal providers and other agencies.
“We are
monitoring the fuel situation to assess the impact on services
over the weekend. Social services has been identified as an
essential service.”
The rural
housebound service in Kenilworth has been discontinued but
mobile libraries are running at the moment. Some libraries have
reduced the frequency of van collections and this could result
in longer waiting times for requested items from other
libraries.
Deliveries of
project materials to schools under the Schools Library Service (SLS)
are suspended. Most
schools have already received their deliveries but a few will be
delayed.
Trading
Standards officers are continuing to provide the Advice Line
service to consumers and businesses on 01926 414000.
Priority is
being given to enforcement matters relating to petrol and
explosive storage, food quality issues, animal health and
welfare issues, including livestock markets.
They are
issuing advice and monitoring the situation regarding hoarding
and the illegal storage of fuel, fuel quality, incorrect setting
of petrol pumps, quality of food in the supply chain, and
pricing of food and petrol.
While crime has
been falling generally over the past few days, there has been an
increase in the number of petrol thefts.
Thieves took
400 litres of fuel from Shepherd Construction on an industrial
estate in Rugby and there were four reports of cars being
siphoned in the Nuneaton area in the last 24 hours.
That follows a
series of thefts in Warwick earlier in the week, including
people filling up and driving away from service stations.
EMERGENCY
NUMBERS
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FUEL PROTEST STORIES
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