CALLS for Swindon Borough Council to declare the town's fuel shortage a ‘major incident’ have been rejected.

Such a move – being considered elsewhere in the country as filling stations continue to run dry – could allow the council to direct fuel supplies to ensure vehicles driven by key workers such as those at Great Western Hospital are a priority.

But council leader David Renard said there is no need.

Councillor Jim Grant, the Labour group’s leader, cited the example of Surrey County Council in a letter to David Haley, the corporate director of children’s services who is acting as council chief executive in Susie Kemp’s absence.

READ MORE: Labour calls on council to declare fuel crisis a 'major incident'

It was announced yesterday that Surrey County Council had not declared a major incident but was continuing to monitor the situation.

Drivers continued to queue at filling stations around the town yesterday, while others were out of petrol and diesel for the fifth day running. 

But Coun Renard was not in favour of his opponent's suggestion.

He said: “It is disappointing Coun Grant has chosen to use the current fuel situation as a means of generating headlines for himself. 

"Rather than scaremongering, he would be better placed taking a leadership role and reassuring local people that there is no shortage of fuel nationally and to call for calm amongst motorists.

“The major players in the UK fuel industry expect demand to return to normal levels in the next few days and they are working closely with the government to ensure fuel is delivered to petrol stations across the country.”

Coun Renard said there is a plan in place  when it is needed.

He said: “As a council, we have been working closely with our local partners within the Wiltshire and Swindon Local Resilience Forum and there is a plan in place to respond if and when appropriate to do so.”

“There is also a national emergency plan for fuel which contains provisions for petrol rationing and designated fuel stations for critical workers, but none of these plans have ever been used and are unlikely to be needed at the present time.”

Coun Renard said the situation did not merit declaring an incident.

He added: “We therefore have no need to declare a major incident and I would urge local residents to only fill up their vehicles if they really need to at the present time.
“I have to wonder whether Coun Grant is using this situation to deflect attention from his party’s disastrous conference. It seems he can’t get enough of negative and scaremongering headlines.”

There are signs of a slow return towards normal with supplies.

Petrol Retailers Association chairman Brian Madderson  told Sky News: “There are still demand levels still above the norm, and as a result many of our members have sites dry. There is still a problem out there. 

"There is still a bit of panic buying, there’s still queuing, but we are hopeful that we are seeing the first signs of a move towards equilibrium later in the week.”

Coun Grant's letter said: “I am writing to you to ask that Swindon Borough Council convenes a meeting of the Local Resilience Forum in order to consider the option of declaring the current fuel crisis a major incident. 

"Should the LRF declare a major incident then I would hope that it would use the powers at its disposal to prioritise key workers in getting access to fuel.

“Surrey County Council is already taking this step and I would urge Swindon to follow suit. It may well be that others are correct and that the situation returns to normal in the next few days but if that isn’t the case then we need to make sure Swindon has taken all necessary steps to prevent the situation from worsening.”

The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Resilience Forum is chaired by Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Kier Pritchard and is made up of representatives from the police, Wiltshire Fire Service, Swindon and Wiltshire councils, the NHS and Public Health England and the Environment Agency.

Coun Grant said: “As an example of what it might be able to do, the LRF could agree with some petrol companies and stations to designate some filling stations as key worker stations and restrict access just to key workers to allow essential services to continue.”