The UK’s fuel industry has issued a joint statement amid the ongoing fuel crisis which has see long queues at petrol stations across the UK.

Many firms have had to issue notices saying they have run out of fuel as drivers struggle to fill their cars amid panic buying of petrol and diesel.

Companies have said they “expect demand will return to normal in the coming days".

Fuel industry issue statement to UK drivers amid the ongoing fuel crisis.

In joint statement issued from UK firms including BP, Shell and Esso, industry experts said that demand will return to normal “in the coming days”.

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It read: "There is plenty of fuel at UK refineries and terminals, and as an industry we are working closely with the government to help ensure fuel is available to be delivered to stations across the country.

"As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, we expect that demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, easing pressures on fuel station forecourts.

"We would encourage everyone to buy fuel as they usually would.

"We remain enormously grateful to all forecourt staff and HGV drivers for working tirelessly to maintain supplies during this time."

Government’s message to UK drivers

A Government source told The Times: "We are hoping that this will settle down because after a while people can’t store petrol in any meaningful way once their car is full.

"There’s no issue with the supply itself. It’s a question of getting it to the pumps.

"But it’s better to act now and stand up the army rather than wait until later. It’s a no brainer."

Calls to stop panic buying

Ministers have issued a fresh appeal to motorists to stop “panic buying” as Boris Johnson drew back from plans to deploy troops to ensure fuel supplies reach forecourts.

Downing Street said the Government was monitoring the situation on a daily basis but there were currently no plans to use the military to drive fuel tankers.

Ministers are hoping the pressure will ease as motorists move back to their routine buying patterns, following the surge in demand last week which led to filling stations across the country running dry.

However there was little sign of the queues easing, while doctors groups warned some medical staff were struggling to get to work because they could not fill up their cars.

Mr Johnson was reported to be considering activating Operation Escalin to use troops to drive tankers to petrol stations, amid a continuing shortage of HGV drivers.

However the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there were currently no plans to use the military, beyond assisting with the drive to reduce the backlog of HGV tests.

“Obviously we will continue to look at all options and make sure preparatory steps are taken across government should further measures be needed,” the spokesman said.