Government officials have given the green light for plans to bring in 5,000 foreign lorry drivers to deal with the shortage - with the UK said to be 100,000 HGV drivers short, according to the Road Haulage Association.

Government is forced to rip up competition laws to tackle petrol crisis with up to 90 per cent of forecourts out of fuel and the rest are running out quickly as chaos continues at the pumps

• An ambulance with a siren blaring was unable to pass gridlocked traffic queuing near a Bromley petrol station 
• A witness said the ambulance ended up hitting a stationary car in a bid to rush to the emergency
• Police have also bypassed queues to fill up their cars as petrol stations continue to run out of fuel amid crisis 
• Chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association said panic buying had caused 'serious problems' for stock levels
• And oil giant BP said nearly a third of their petrol stations in Britain had run out of fuel