HORDES of panic petrol buyers flooded forecourts across the Fylde on Tuesday (September 19) as false rumours about new petrol blockades swept the nation.

Police urged drivers not to fill-up unless absolutely necessary when huge queues of cars built up as motorists tried to get to the pumps.

The rumours that the blockades were back on are believed to have originated from an announcement made on a Welsh local radio station late on Monday (Septemebr 18) evening.

And by lunchtime on Tuesday (September 19) the North West was clogged with motorists frantically trying to fill up.

Mrs Phyllis Horne, site operator at the Total Fina Elf service station at South Shore -- one of the 300 designated sites on the Government's list -- said she couldn't believe her eyes when the queues started again.

"Everything was normal until around 11am, when I got a phone call from a friend and when I looked out of the window I just saw the huge queue," said Mrs Horne.

"It wasn't until after the tea-time news that everything started to settle down again. "If everyone buys fuel sensibly the country should be back to normal in around a week or so, but we cannot afford any more panic buying."

The petrol hysteria was also fuelled by rumours that civil servants at Warbreck Hill benefits agency had been officially notified to fill up their tanks because of the "blockades" -- although chiefs were quick to correct this.

"There was no official announcement to staff to fill up their tanks, in fact quite the opposite," said North West press officer Tom Eccleston.

"As soon as we found the rumours to be untrue, we sent round official notices asking staff not to panic-buy as the rumours were unfounded."

But the petrol crisis is far from over, and the farmers are promising to start up the blockades again if the Government does not cut fuel tax within the 60-day limit they set last week.

Other fringe groups have also now realised that they could get themselves heard by blockading fuel depots.

Yesterday, The Citizen received an email from a group calling themselves Green Anarchist Direct Action which is demanding an INCREASE on fuel duties on environmental grounds and threatening to cause disruption in the near future.

The response to the crisis from The Citizen readers has been incredible.

Pictured here is a cartoon sent in by Robert Brownlow of Blackpool.