Motorists desperate to stock up with fuel are draining petrol stations dry.

The Oxpens Service Station in Oxford has had no fuel for nearly 24 hours and forecourt manager David Thompson blamed Home Secretary Jack Straw for causing panic buying.

Mr Thompson, who saw a three-day surge until his supplies ran out, said: "People have just gone mad. I have been trying to get hold of Esso headquarters but they have not told me when to expect a tanker."

He said he had watched Jack Straw on television advising people to plan ahead. As a result, drivers had started to stockpile fuel. He added: "I have coned off the forecourt and put up signs, but people keep driving in asking for fuel. About 15 other Esso stations in Oxfordshire and Swindon are also out of fuel."

Problems around the county included:

**The BP filling station in Cherwell Drive, Marston, was hoping for a delivery today after running out of petrol last night

**On the A40 at Eynsham the Esso station at Acre Hill, already busy because of flooding at a Jet station nearby, said its supplies would not last the day

**Latif Mohammed, the manager at Q8, in Oxford Road, Cowley, said he had seen a 20 per cent increase in sales on last week but was confident he would not run dry

**Roy Sweetnam, manager of Esso Brize Norton, said: "It has been pretty heavy trade. At the moment we are all right for fuel. People are being very cautious and they are not going to get caught like they did last time."

The AA's spokesman for Oxfordshire, Rebecca Rees, said: "Our message to motorists is let's not panic buy. It is pointless for people with three-quarters of tank of fuel queuing at the pumps to top up.

"Hoarding fuel is also very dangerous. You are creating a 'bomb next door' for your neighbours."

Halfords in Botley Road, Oxford, has seen sales of fuel cans double, leading to warnings from fire chiefs that anyone found stockpiling fuel illegally will be prosecuted.

Senior fire safety officer Steve Wain, said: "It's not that we don't want people to store petrol. But they must do it legally.

"People can store 20 litre cans, but they must apply for permission. We have received no applications. If people have bought containers bigger than five litres, they should not be using them to store petrol without our permission.

"If anyone knows their neighbour is storing more

than two-gallon containers, they should let us know."

Halfords assistant manager Mr David Hutchinson, said: "We are 100 per cent up on sales of petrol storage cans. Mostly six litre cans are being bought but we have also sold 20 litre cans today. That's very unusual.

"People are obviously worried about thieves siphoning petrol because locking fuel caps are selling out too."

Chairman of the People's Fuel Lobby David Handley last night called on lorry drivers, farmers and fishermen to join a mass protest against fuel prices to be held in London on November 14.

The Home Secretary, who has a home at Minster Lovell, was today expected to signal the Government's determination to combat the protests - which brought the country to a virtual standstill in September.

His warning is set to stress the damaging consequences of any new blockage action and say how measures will ensure fuel flows back to the pumps.

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