Petrol forecourt managers in the town have told the Times that supplies are far from normal, with shortages expected to continue throughout the rest of the week.
On Monday, of the four main filling stations in the town centre, only two had fuel.
Motorists began queuing around 10am when Sainsbury’s in Linden Park Road received a delivery, while the Shell garage on St John’s Road was closed all day as it was empty. Alan Brown at the BP garage on St John’s Road said they had some fuel but it would be gone within an hour.
He said: “We have only got premium diesel left and that will run out in 40 minutes from now. We have no indication when we are going to get more fuel. No communication so far from the company.”
At the Esso station on Eridge Road, manager Karthik Baswon said while they were resupplied with diesel on Sunday evening, he expected it to be gone by Wednesday.
He said: “Fuel came in on Sunday morning around 9 o’clock. It will last until perhaps this evening – we have maybe 2,000 litres left out of 23,000 delivered – so I doubt we will be open on Wednesday.”
He added that Esso had now banned the filling of jerry cans at its forecourts.
He said: “People are always telling the same story, my car is trapped in another place so I want to full up using the jerry cans.
“We have to provide for all the people. And people have been abusing it because of this.”
According to the Petrol Retailers Association, the situation is improving across the UK with the exception of London and the South East.
Around 22 per cent of filling stations in the region still do not have fuel.
And despite ministers insisting the situation at the pumps, which has seen queues and panic buying, is easing, Operation Escalin was launched on Monday, where around 200 military personnel – half of them drivers – are being deployed to the roads for the first time to help deliver petrol to forecourts
