London (AFP)

"We can't spend two or three hours in lines when we have patients to see": In the face of fuel shortages in the UK, doctors and other essential workers are urging the government on Tuesday to act to enable them to refuel.

Long queues have formed in recent days in front of gas stations across the country.

Motorists rushed there after the announcement by some distributors that they had to close outlets because of the lack of truck drivers available to deliver fuels.

This exceptional situation, the latest consequence of the labor shortages caused by the pandemic and Brexit, prompted the government to ask the army on Monday evening to stand ready to intervene "if necessary to stabilize the supply of fuel".

Organizations of doctors, nurses and prison staff want essential workers to have priority access to service stations, many of which are dry.

"If we do not have enough fuel, it will affect our patients, we ask the government to take action," British Medical Association vice president David Wrigley pleaded on SkyNews Tuesday.

He explained that doctors could not waste "two or three hours" waiting in front of gas stations when they had patients to treat.

Some schools are considering switching back to distance education if the problem persists.

"For many teachers, using public transport is simply not an option, with many schools in areas that are difficult to reach other than using private vehicles," said Patrick Roach, general secretary of the union. NASUWT teachers, also pleading for teachers to have priority access to gasoline reserves.

“Let essential workers refuel first,” The Mirror's headline on Tuesday, while tabloid The Sun lambasted the government for causing “chaos” and “confusion” according to the newspaper.

- Army ready -

The government must "pull itself together" in the face of the fuel crisis and use emergency powers to reserve the use of certain service stations for essential workers, demanded Unison, a leading public sector organization in the country.

Faced with the crisis, the government called on army drivers to prepare to deliver fuel to gas stations if necessary.

They will receive specialized training before being deployed.

A service station says it has no more fuel on September 27, 2021 near Tonbridge, in the south of England Ben STANSALL AFP

However, the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps wanted to be reassuring, affirming that the “purchases driven by panic” were being “moderated”.

"People have answered the call to refuel only when they really need fuel and their cars are now fuller anyway," Shapps said in a statement Monday evening.

In an attempt to resolve recruitment difficulties, the government had already announced that it would temporarily relax visa rules in order to attract more foreign truck drivers.

The estimated 100,000 driver shortage has been going on for several months due to the combined pandemic and Brexit, with Labor accusing Boris Johnson's Tory government of 'falling asleep at the wheel' and not intervening soon enough.

The delivery problems also affect the shelves of supermarkets, fast food restaurants, pubs, among others, which deplore delays in deliveries and exhausted stocks on certain products.

For Nick Thomas-Symonds, MP for Labor, the fuel crisis is due to the "total incompetence" of the government and its "management of Brexit".

Olaf Scholz, the German finance minister and potential next chancellor, also pointed to the responsibility of Brexit in the current crisis.

"We have worked hard to convince the British not to leave the European Union," Mr Scholz said on Monday, but "now that they have decided to do so, I hope they can deal with the problems that arise. arise ".

© 2021 AFP