Motorists were being told not to panic as there is no shortage of fuel at UK forecourts.

It comes as queues began forming outside forecourts. The rush for petrol was triggered by news that a small number of BP and Tesco petrol stations had been forced to close as a shortage of HGV drivers meant they could not be restocked in time.

This was the scene (above) at Blackburn Asda this evening (Friday 24 September) as drivers queued to fill up at the forecourt. Others were being stopped from entering the superstore and had to park in an adjoining car park to access Asda.

On the forecourt we pictured a tanker filling up and were told that another tanker would be at the petrol station tomorrow.

One motorist told us: "This is madness. I am just trying to get some shopping done. Imagine that petrol tanker had arrived now. He wouldn't have been able to get into the forecourt!"

Elsewhere around town queues were forming on King Street and Preston New Road. 

Lancashire Telegraph:

Only an hour earlier this petrol station on Preston New Road, Blackburn was almost empty. The second image was taken at 6pm.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Prices differed with the BP garage on the top of Montague Street charging £1.42.9p per litre for diesel and the Texaco station on Bolton Road charging £1.38.9p. On King Street the Shell garage (pictured) was also charging £1.39.9p.

Edmund King, president of breakdown and recovery service the AA, said that ‘there is no shortage of fuel and thousands of forecourts are operating normally with just a few suffering temporary supply chain problems’.

He added: “Fridays and the weekend always tend to be busier on forecourts as drivers either combine filling up with shopping runs, prepare for weekend trips or refuel for the start of the new working week.

“Drivers should not fill up outside their normal routines because, even if the occasional petrol station is temporarily closed, others just down the road will be open.

“It is now clear that there have been occasional delays over recent weeks that have been managed with hardly anyone noticing. This was a manageable problem.”

Although fuel is still in good supply, RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams has warned that price rises could be on the horizon.

He said: “The supply issues affecting a small number of petrol forecourts shouldn’t impact the prices drivers pay to fill up.

“But unfortunately the price of oil, which has the biggest influence on what drivers pay at the pumps, is continuing to rise at the moment.

“This may lead to fuel prices going up in the coming days which would be yet more bad news for drivers as a litre of unleaded is already over 21p a litre more expensive than a year ago.”