UK motorists have been seeing chaos at the pumps over the past week after a shortage of HGV drivers paired with panic buyers has caused petrol stations to run out of fuel with no way of restocking.
Long queues at petrol stations has also been having a knock-on effect on the roads with traffic clogging the surrounding roads – but one bus worker has come to the rescue of motorists in north London by helping to keep cars moving.
The woman, known only as Sam, works for Arriva but was not on shift when she noticed a long line of buses stuck in traffic on Fore Street, Edmonton, north London.
And rather than letting the traffic woes continue, she donned her high visibility vest and stood out in the road to manually direct buses and cars out of the area.
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Onlooker Jasmine Dwyer – who filmed a video of Sam’s heroic deed – said: “I was in the queue for two hours and she came probably 30 minutes after I arrived and was still there after I left.
“When she first started, she freed up around 15 buses within five minutes and after the buses got through she helped to coordinate the traffic into the petrol station and also the traffic to go past it.”
With long queues for petrol causing a gridlock of traffic, Sam has been praised for giving up her time to help others.
Jasmine added: “Lots of people on the buses looked so exhausted and fed up it was just such a relief for them to have somebody help them.”
And in the comments on Jasmine’s video, people couldn’t believe the kindness shown by Sam outside of her working hours.
One person said: “She’s one of the good ones. Thank you Sam.”
While another added: "Bless her … all the forecourt staff must get so much abuse when it isn’t their fault there is a lack of petrol.”
And a third wrote: “What a star! Well done Sam!”
The petrol shortage has caused chaos for motorists across the country, with many petrol stations closing early due to lack of fuel.
In response, the government is considering bringing in the army to supply fuel to petrol stations.
