(Adds details)
LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said on Tuesday that 127 drivers had applied for fuel
trucker visas amid an acute shortage of drivers that has
strained supply chains to breaking point.
Johnson told BBC TV that the haulage industry had been asked
to provide the details of drivers who were willing to come to
Britain, and it had only given 127 names.
"What that shows is the global shortage," he said.
The Times newspaper reported that just 27 fuel tanker
drivers had applied.
With fuel companies and supermarkets warning that a shortage
of drivers was hitting deliveries, the government said late last
month that it would temporarily reverse its immigration rules
and give 5,000 visas for EU drivers to operate in Britain. It
said 300 of those could arrive immediately to drive oil tankers.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Kate Holton)
BP (BP.)