Risky or not, should we be panic buying petrol?

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude issued the advice as the Government drew up contingency plans to deal with the threat of industrial action by drivers.

The Fire Brigades Union said advising motorists to store jerry cans of petrol in their garages was wrong and must be withdrawn.

The union warned it would “massively increase” fire and explosion risk and the public should be discouraged from doing so.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “This is not sensible advice and people should be discouraged from doing so. The general public does not properly understand the fire and explosion risk of storing fuel, even if it was done sensibly.

“Those without garages may be tempted to store fuel in the home. In the event of a fire in the house or a neighbouring property, it would be disastrous.

“It is already against the law to store more than 10 litres of petrol in two five-litre plastic containers in the home. As that amounts to little more than a third of a tank in most cars, the advice is of little practical help.

“There is a real danger the public will start storing fuel in inappropriate ways if the Government is encouraging panic-buying and storage. This advice is wrong and must be withdrawn.”

Mr Maude suggested drivers should fill up any spare jerry cans with petrol, even though motoring organisations and energy firms have urged people not to panic-buy.

He said a “couple of hundred” military tanker crews would be trained to cover for striking tanker drivers to maintain supplies to garages, as well as hospitals and schools.

He also attacked the Unite union and its leader Len McCluskey for threatening industrial action, accusing the union of being “irresponsible”.

Mr Maude said there was no need for anyone to “rush” to a petrol station but he advised people to fill up any spare jerry cans with petrol to prepare for the impact of any action, even though Unite has not called any strikes yet.

Workers in five of seven companies involved in the row over terms and conditions and safety standards have voted in favour of strikes, raising the threat of walkouts over the Easter weekend, when millions of families will take to the road for the first major holiday of the year.

Unite will have to give seven days’ notice of any walkouts, but the talks are likely be held soon at the conciliation service Acas in an attempt to avert stoppages.

Mr Maude said he was not sure what the dispute was about, suggesting it was part of Mr McCluskey’s “grand plan” to bring the country to a halt.

“He has already threatened to have a strike during the Olympics - this is part of his plan. I hope Ed Miliband (Labour leader) will face up to his responsibilities and condemn the strike called by the union which is the biggest donor to the Labour Party.

“There are lives at risk if this goes ahead, as well as massive inconvenience.”

The Ministry of Defence said using military personnel was “in discussion” across government. A spokesman said: “There is a possibility that military personnel might be required but we don’t know yet whether that will be the case.”

Mr Miliband, speaking during a visit to the Midlands, was asked if he could step in and do something to influence Unite. He replied that his message was clear - that the strike must be avoided and the way to do that was to get round the negotiating table.

He added that the Government must do the “responsible thing” and come to an agreement with proposed strikers.

“We don’t want to see industrial action, it must be avoided at all costs, and the best way to make that happen is for the Government to tell both sides to instruct them, to say you’ve got to negotiate.

“That’s what’s in the interests of the people of Britain and that’s what’s got to happen.”

Mr Cameron later denied he was trying to “raise the temperature” in the dispute.

He told a press conference in Downing Street that the Government was delivering a “very calm, very sensible” message but there was “absolutely no justification” for a strike.

“I absolutely do not want to raise the temperature on this any more than is necessary,” he said.

“I do not want a strike to take place, I hope the talks will be successful.

“But in government you always have to prepare for any eventuality.

“The British people would expect that.

“To the British people themselves I would say, look, there is no imminent strike.

“The unions would have to give seven days notice of any strike so there is no need to queue to buy petrol.

“If there is an opportunity to top up your tank if a strike is potentially on the way, then it is a sensible thing if you are able to do that.”

Energy Secretary Ed Davey wrote to Unite asking the union to get round the table with the haulage companies, and suggesting the use of Acas.

He suggested that health and safety issues could be discussed at a reconvened meeting of an industry forum which met last year.

An Acas spokesman said: “We are in urgent discussions with the parties involved on an individual basis. It is normal for us to do this to establish the format for talks.

“There are eight parties involved in this dispute - Unite and seven contractors. Acas always encourages the parties involved in a dispute to enter constructive dialogue.”

No time has been set for talks to start and it was looking unlikely that a meeting would be held today. When discussions do get under way, all seven companies involved in the dispute will be invited to take part, including two where workers voted against strikes.

The AA said today there was plenty of fuel to go round and the situation will only deteriorate if motorists rush unnecessarily to filling stations.

Oil company Esso also said motorists should stick to their normal buying patterns.

Meanwhile, representatives of petrol station operators said that the Government appeared “intent on creating a crisis” which could see forecourts run dry within days.

Sales of petrol were up 45% on a normal Tuesday yesterday, and sales of diesel up 20%, in what appeared to be a sign of panic-buying by motorists, said Brian Madderson, the petrol chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation, which represents independent forecourt operators.

He called for the Government to show “cool heads” and stop encouraging people to stockpile fuel at a time when supplies at petrol stations are anyway at a low.

Mr Madderson told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “This Government appears to be intent on creating a crisis out of a serious concern.

“We would have told them - had we been engaged with them - that there are now 6,000 fewer forecourts than there were at the time of the fuel blockade in 2000, and over and above that, our retailers are struggling financially. Volumes are down, margins are down and cashflow is very tight so they have probably got the lowest stock levels in their tanks underground at forecourts that they have ever had.

“We weren’t given the opportunity to put that information across to the Government so when we hear today that the Government are trying to encourage stockpiling, we think that’s just completely wrong.

“Yesterday we polled a good proportion of our members right across the UK and petrol was 45% up compared to a normal Tuesday and diesel was 20% up. That suggests that fleet car operators, company cars and vans and businesses are not rushing to panic-buy, but certainly petrol - the main private motorists’ fuel - was above a normal level.

“We believe that cool heads must prevail here, otherwise we are going to run out of stock rather quickly - and by cool heads, that means the Government as well.

“They should be focusing their attention on getting Acas round a table with all the parties involved and thrashing out a negotiated settlement, instead of encouraging what we are likely to see today - and that is more sites running out of fuel because there is a surge in demand.”

Responding to the FBU’s warning about the dangers of stockpiling fuel, Mr Maude told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “There are legal limits on what you can store, very sensibly, and they have been in existence for some time and I am sure the fire service will communicate this.

“There are perfectly sensible regulations surrounding this, which people will no doubt obey.

“It sounds like people are behaving in an extremely sensible way. There is no kind of dramatic action. Where there is an opportunity sensibly, calmly, to get a bit more fuel they are doing that without any drama.

“There are sensible low-key things that can be done and if they choose to do it, that’s one of them, obviously within sensible constraints.”

Mr Maude rejected suggestions he was trying to whip up public panic: “We are making (the public) aware that, very regrettably, there is a risk of a strike. It is not imminent. We are encouraging Acas to sit down with both parties to see if this can be resolved in a sensible way.”