UK: Fuel strike ‘will bleed pumps dry’

SCOTLAND is set to be hit by crippling fuel shortages within days after plans for a strike at the country’s biggest oil refinery led to it being shut down for safety reasons.

Motorists could find petrol and diesel supplies beginning to dry up as early as Friday, the company which owns the giant Grangemouth plant warned last night.


Experts fear fuel shortages are likely to last for a month and the disruption is set to spread well beyond drivers to affect the entire transport and distribution network and even the emergency services.

More than 1,000 workers are due to walk out on strike on April 27 and 28 in a row with owner, Ineos, over pensions.

Yesterday Ineos began shutting down Grangemouth, Scotland’s only crude oil refinery, on safety grounds. The process, which has never been tried before, takes several days. Restarting production is also a long and complex procedure.

Scotsman