[19
SEP 00] FUEL PROTESTS NEWS
Fuels, If We Thought It Was Over
By
ARRYN BUGGINS
Queues are forming at petrol stations in
Coventry and Warwickshire following false reports that tanker
drivers are to go on strike.
Police say the story - starting in Wales this
morning - is groundless and there is no need to panic buy.
But motorists have formed long queues around
service stations, as they are not taking the chance.
The rumour appears to have started when a
caller to a radio station in south Wales said Texaco drivers
were about to go on strike. The company has denied this and said
all drivers are working as normal.
Staff at the Safeway store on Holyhead Road,
Coventry, were marshalling traffic on the busy road as queues
started to form this afternoon.
Kenilworth town centre is also clogged with
motorists queuing for petrol stations on Warwick Road.
Police said there were queues all over
Warwickshire, with Leamington being a hotspot and suffering the
worst congestion.
A police spokeswoman said officers had not
returned to the refinery at Kingsbury, and urged the public not
to panic buy:
“People are being very silly. There is no
reason to panic. There are no protests and there is no
evidence that protesters are coming to Kingsbury.
“We are urging the public not to panic buy
but only to buy the petrol that they need.
“People are forming long queues and it is
causing problems for the public and the emergency services.”
A
spokesman for West Midlands police added that queues were
forming all over the region because of the fear of another
crisis.
He
added:
"We
have no evidence to support this and we would ask people not
to be panicked into buying petrol."
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