LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Britain is looking at temporary
measures to alleviate an acute shortage of truckers, Prime
Minister Boris Johnson's office said on Friday, to smooth
disruption to food and petrol supplies which retailers have
warned could impact Christmas.
Britain's retail industry has warned the government that
unless it acts to address the shortage of heavy goods vehicle
(HGV) drivers in the next 10 days, then significant disruption
was inevitable in the run-up to Christmas.
"We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid any immediate
problems, but any measures we introduce will be very strictly
time limited," a spokeswoman for Johnson's Downing Street office
said in a statement.
Downing Street did not give any details on what the measures
would be. The trucking industry has called for the government to
allow short-term visas for international drivers to enter
Britain and fill the gap.
As the world's fifth-largest economy emerges from COVID-19
lockdowns, a spike in European natural gas prices and a
post-Brexit shortage of truck drivers have left Britain
grappling with soaring energy prices and a potential food supply
crunch.
BP had to close some of its gas stations due to the
driver shortages while queues formed at some Shell
stations as pumps ran dry in some places. ExxonMobil's
Esso said a small number of its 200 Tesco Alliance retail sites
had also been impacted in some way.
The government has sought to reassure the country over fuel
supplies and has played down the impact of Brexit on causing the
driver shortage, instead saying the COVID-19 pandemic has
hindered the ability to train and test new drivers.
"We have ample fuel stocks in this country and the public
should be reassured there are no shortages," the spokeswoman
said.
"But like countries around the world we are suffering from a
temporary COVID-related shortage of drivers needed to move
supplies around the country."
(Reporting by Alistair Smout
Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
