A nurse has joined calls for NHS staff and the emergency services to get priority at the pumps as Britain's fuel crisis continues.
Paula Mulligan, 54, from Ashton, works as a nurse at Rochdale Infirmary.
Speaking from the queue at a Tesco petrol station in Oldham, she told the Manchester Evening News the situation is causing extra stress for the NHS which is already overburdened by the coronavirus pandemic.
Fighting back tears, she said: “I’m just so upset.
“It’s the toilet roll situation all over again.
“During the first lockdown I couldn’t get toilet roll anywhere now here I am with no petrol with people panic buying again."
“I really thought they would open up special NHS pumps.
“People are stressing."
“All my colleagues, doctors, nurses, they all commute and also have to travel between sites.
“My petrol light is on and has been for a while. Luckily I’m in a hybrid so I’m hoping to roll into this forecourt.
“But not everyone will be the same."
Ms Mulligan said if the situation continues there could soon be NHS staff who aren't able to get to their jobs.
“I’m on annual leave today but if I wasn’t I’d have been delayed getting to work," she said.
“And that’s going to have an impact on the NHS and on patients.
“One of my colleagues, a doctor he lives in Cheshire and works in Oldham. What if he can’t get to work?
“We’re already burnt out and stretched. Covid hasn’t gone away. We’re still dealing with it."
“There should be dedicated supplies for NHS staff, for the ambulances and fire trucks as it’s just going to get worse.
“I’m quite emotional about it.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly planning to call in the Army to help tackle the crisis by driving tankers.
The government has already relaced competition laws to allow suppliers to work together and announced plans to offer more than 5,000 temporary visas to foreign drivers.
However with many motorists still finding petrol stations closed or struggling with big queues there are fears for the short-term consequences.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, an A&E doctor and Labour's shadow cabinet minister for mental health, was among those to call for NHS priority.
"Across the country, many NHS staff have to drive to work," she tweeted.
"With shortages at petrol stations, the Government should work with fuel suppliers to ensure NHS staff with a work ID get priority access."
Meanwhile, Professor Dame Clare Gerada, former president of the Royal College of GPs, told the i newspaper she is worried that deliveries of the flu vaccine and medical supplies could be caught up in the driver shortage problem.
"We’ve had petrol shortages before, certainly in my professional lifetime, many times, and it always impacts on healthcare staff, district nurses, doctors [and] ambulance crews," she said.
“There needs to be a priority to make sure that people in essential services can fill their vehicles up.”
