Britain puts army on standby as panic buying leaves petrol pumps dry

The British army was put on standby on Monday evening to help ease fuel supply chain issues caused by a shortage of truck drivers as scenes of panic buying were observed across the country.

The government said in a statement that a "limited number of military tanker drivers" were to be put "on a state of readiness and deployed if necessary to further stabilise fuel supply chain."

The military drivers are to receive training to enable them to work with industry, it added.

The government has also announced that licences for heavy goods vehicles (HGV) expiring before December 31 will be extended by a month. Licences are ordinarily valid for up to five years and require the holder to take a refresher course and an exam — which takes three days — in the final year of validity to be renewed.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said that "while the fuel industry expects demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, it's right that we take this sensible, precautionary step."

"The UK continues to have strong supplies of fuel, however we are aware of supply chain issues at fuel station forecourts and are taking steps to ease these as a matter of priority," he added.