A local police force has urged motorists to stop causing unnecessary long queues by rushing to buy petrol.

It came as industry leaders said ‘panic-buying rather than supply chain issues is driving the shortage of fuel at some petrol stations’.

Details of a temporary visa scheme to make it easier for foreign lorry drivers to work in the UK are also set to be to announced. It is understood that about 5,000 temporary visas could be issued.

Insp Chris Valentine of Burnley Police said in a post: “I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind people that the issues are with a shortage of tanker drivers that means a very small number of stations are awaiting slightly longer for delivery of fuel. There is no actual fuel shortage.

“Tonight, we have seen the beginnings of people ‘panic buying’ which is causing traffic issues on the roads with people queuing up. I would urge people to just continue fuelling up as and when you need it. By panic buying like this all you do is add more demand on petrol stations which will lead to a fuel shortage caused by our own making!

“Stay in and enjoy your evening in this miserable weather and don’t make unnecessary trips to petrol stations!”

The president of the AA Edmund King said the problem should pass in a matter of days if drivers just stick to filling up when they need it, adding “there is plenty of fuel at source”.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr King said shortage of lorry drivers had only been a “localised problem” earlier in the week.

He said: “If you think about it, 30 million cars out there, if they’ve all got half a tank (and) if they all rush out to fill up the rest of the tank and the tank is about 60 litres, that will put a strain on the system”.

Mr King said the issues were unlikely to last because the supply chain is not being disrupted by ongoing problems such as industrial action.

“The good news is you can only really fill up once – you’ve got to use the fuel, so this should be a short-term thing,” he said.

“It’s not like the fuel crises in the past when the supplier was hit by strikes, etc.

“So, once people have filled up, they won’t travel more than they normally travel, so this strain on the system should ease up in the next few days.”