Fuel supply: No issues in Northern Ireland, industry body says

Northern Ireland motorists are setting an example to the rest of the UK, an industry body says

There are no issues with the petrol supply chain in Northern Ireland, an industry body has said.

Other parts of the UK have seen queues at the pumps, amid fears of disruption to the fuel supply and panic buying.

Brian Madderson, Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) chairman, said that had not been the case in Northern Ireland.

"There is really no reason in Northern Ireland to go out and fill up your tanks to the brim," he said.

"There are plenty of HGV drivers , there is plenty of fuel in terminals in Derry and Belfast and there is plenty of fuel underground at the forecourts," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

Northern Ireland is "showing an example to the rest of the UK and that is fantastic news," he added.

"It is (a crisis) on the mainland but I am pleased to say the good motorists of Northern Ireland have not caused any panic buying in the last few days," he said.

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A shortage of lorry drivers in the UK has caused problems for a range of industries in recent months.

In recent days, some fuel deliveries were affected, leading to panic buying and lengthy queues at some petrol stations.

The government has announced it is to suspend competition law to allow oil firms to target fuel deliveries at petrol stations following recent panic buying.

Ministers are also considering deploying the Army to deliver fuel.

There has been petrol panic buying in other parts of the UK

Mr Madderson said there were issues in every urban area in Great Britain.

"Coming through this pandemic people are quite frightened about their futures, their jobs and livelihoods and it is quite difficult to keep panic down, and as much as government said 'please don't panic, please don't buy more than you need', that's exactly what people did," he said.

Seamus Leheny, of the freight trade body Logistics UK, said Northern Ireland's supply chain network, though smaller than in the rest of the UK, was "more resilient".

"There simply isn't a problem here. There is enough fuel and drivers here to keep the supply chain fully stocked.

"We have two very large fuel depots at Lishally and Belfast."

He said that while the petrol supply chain is unaffected by a driver shortage in Northern Ireland, there was a shortage of about 3,000 to 4,000 general haulage drivers.

Operators cannot get enough drivers and there were lorries parked in yards "just crying out for drivers", he added.