THE fuel protest that has almost brought the country to a standstill was today coming to an end.

Pickets called off their action at the Stanlow refinery which supplies the North West and convoys of petrol tankers have since been leaving the site.

And it was a similar picture at most other refineries around the country with protesters claiming that they had done enough to get their message across.

But as pickets left other refineries from Bristol to Scotland there were warnings that petrol and food shortages could continue for some days.

Brynle Williams, spokesman for the Stanlow protesters, said: "It was pure common sense to end the protest. We have made our point to the Government and the British public have supported us 100 per cent.

"But we decided after seven nights to stand down while we still have the moral high ground."

Distributors face "a massive logistical problem" in their mammoth task of restocking Britain's empty petrol stations, the Petrol Retailers Association warned.

Petrol stations need an extra 400 million litres of fuel to get back to normal levels, according to director Ray Holloway.

To refill empty forecourt tanks, distributors will have to make many more than the usual 3,000 deliveries - around 100 million litres - a day.

The country's 12,500 petrol stations hold at least two tanks each, with larger garages having 10 tanks, each with 36,000 litre capacity.

Petrol stations would need four days' worth of deliveries to get back to normal levels, Mr Holloway estimated.

Food shortages sparked by panic buying across East Lancashire have already left many shelves bare as shoppers ignored pleas not to panic buy food during the fuel crisis.

Some stores sold out of staple foods such as milk, bread, flour, and sugar, while others resorted to rationing the supplies they had left as customers prepared for the worst.

Today Asda store personnel manager Dawn Hodgeson at Accrington said: "We started the day with the normal deliveries but it will depend on customers to see if that stock lasts the day." And East Lancashire farmers and hauliers stepped up their protest at the country's fuel prices with another rolling road block last night.

Rush-hour traffic ground almost to a halt on the Edenfield by-pass and onto the Haslingden by-pass as tractors and trucks snaked along the route at snail pace.

In Blackburn drivers queued patiently for more than three hours in the hope of reaching one of the only East Lancashire petrol stations selling unleaded fuel to the public.

But despite the delivery at Shadsworth's Esso Service Station, health chiefs laid on special bus services for their staff from all over East Lancashire to keep hospital services running.

The rest of East Lancashire was still practically a petrol-free zone with most stations having shut up shop.

Total garages, Lords of Rossendale and Kitchens in Burnley, were expecting fuel deliveries by the end of yesterday, but were told that any petrol and diesel could only be sold to emergency services vehicles at this stage and not the general public.

David Meakin, deputy chief executive of Burnley NHS Trust, said that buses had been hired to transport people in from all over the area including Rossendale and Barnoldswick. Certain other special clinics have been postponed, but a full service was being delivered.

"If there isn't any fuel by the beginning of next week, it will start to cause problems," he said. And John Thomas, chief executive of Blackburn NHS Trust, added that community staff had been able to access limited fuel supplies from Lancashire Ambulance Service and buses were being laid on too.

"Most staff are able to get to work at the moment, but many are saying that things will become more difficult. We are reviewing daily the issue of non-urgent operations, but they are continuing at the moment," he said.

The fuel crisis has gripped the area so tightly that evening and weekend bus services have been cancelled. School and local bus services, subsidised by Lancashire County Council, face suspension tomorrow and evening and Sunday runs have been cut completely. Other affected services include Blackburn Transport, Darwen Coach Services, Rossendale Transport and Ribble Valley Coaches.

Over the past 48 hours, police kept watch at petrol stations across the area, but Lancashire Constabulary issued a plea to the public to stop ringing about the fuel crisis after receiving 800 calls in a day.

A spokesman said: "The supplies that are being delivered to Lancashire are for the emergency services and associated professions like doctors and nurses.

"The police presence at stations is simply to maintain law and order and keep traffic flowing. We are not there to help serve customers simply to ensure that things do not get out of hand."

The crisis has spread so far that from Monday, Burnley and Padiham Community Housing will not be operating standard repairs until further notice.

A limited supply of emergency fuel has been made available by the firm, which runs thousands of homes across the borough, to enable some services for customers to continue.

The care service that the company runs will continue and central control will operate as normal with mobile wardens visiting customers on sheltered schemes, but only one visit will be made each week.

Direct operations will only provide for services in emergency cases such as major leaks, a major electrical fault or a lock not working or damaged window.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice expressed relief that petrol was beginning to move from the refineries to the filling stations.

He said no-one liked paying a fortune to fill up their tank but that the main reason for the rise in pump prices was the rise in the price of oil from $10-£34 a barrel. Of the 18p a litre increase in the last 16 months duty was responsible for less than 2p.

Mr Prentice said he knew the difficulties people were facing especially those in rural areas. The priority now was to get things back to normal as soon as possible.

For further information about bus services, ring 0870 608 2608.