MP Luke Hall has called for motorists to not panic buy fuel in the week that has saw a number of petrol stations forced to close due to shortages.

The MP for Yate and Thornbury insisted that industry leaders have been clear that there is plenty of fuel in storage and that the shortages have been caused by panic buying rather than supply levels.

He said “The petrol industry have been clear that there is plenty of fuel in the refineries and in storage across the country.

“While in recent days, a significant spike in demand has caused temporary shortages at some petrol stations, the Government are taking steps to ensure that these can be re-supplied as quickly as possible.

“I would of course encourage people in South Gloucestershire not to panic and to only buy petrol when they need it, as they normally would.”

Thornbury’s Tesco garage was closed to the public on Tuesday after running out of all fuel.

Yate and Sodbury has seen daily traffic chaos as people queued for the petrol stations in the area.

Locals took to Facebook to complain of the levels of traffic backed up for Morrison’s petrol station-meaning people wanting to shop in the store were queueing for up to 30 minutes to get into the car park.

On Sunday three of the four petrol stations in Yate had no unleaded fuel.

Morrison’s petrol station in Yate had a sign saying ‘Sorry No Unleaded’ at 10.30am and reported to only have supplies of Diesel left in four of their eight pumps, which would last around two hours.

Despite deliveries, half the areas stations were closed completely on Tuesday morning after running out of fuel supplies,

PM Boris Johnson now plans to use the Army to deliver fuel to the forecourts with Downing Street insisting there are “ample” supplies.

In a joint statement, issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the industry urged drivers to return to normal buying patterns.

“There is plenty of fuel at UK refineries and terminals, and as an industry we are working closely with the Government to help ensure fuel is available to be delivered to stations across the country,” it said.

Demand for petrol should return to normal levels in “the coming days”, the fuel industry has said.