UPDATE: Hertfordshire County Council has insisted there is no need for special key worker petrol stations, despite calls for emergency measures.

Hitchin Nub News once again witnessed long queues outside petrol stations in our town on Friday, including waits of up to 30 minutes on Bedford Road as motorists waited to fill up at the Shell garage, following a recent delivery.

However, by Friday evening Nub News saw empty forecourts at the Shell garage which sold out following an earlier delivery.

The Esso petrol station on Nightingale Road was also empty with the forecourt sealed off after motorists bought all the supplies after a recent delivery.

The BP garage along Bedford Road was also once again empty, awaiting further deliveries, as was the Esso garage on Nightingale Road.

This situation, added to similar queues across the county and elsewhere, has seen calls grow for the county council to consider designating some petrol stations for key workers to avoid essential services being disrupted.

However, the government has insisted there is no fuel shortage, and it was a supply issue as a result of a lack of drivers to supply petrol to forecourts.

To prevent major disruption for key workers, Liberal Democrats have called upon the county council to consider designating some stations for key workers - with similar action taken during the September 2000 fuel crisis.

Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor said "I have been contacted by several key workers who are struggling to get fuel for their jobs.

"I have raised this with Hertfordshire County Council and asked them to consider designating some petrol stations for key workers to ensure that our essential services can continue as normal.

"I would encourage everyone to be considerate of others and only get fuel if you need it."

Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Liberal Democrat), leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the county council added that he had spoken to colleagues at the county council about the measure, but was told it would only be possible with permission from the government.

However, the council has now confirmed there are no plans to introduce key worker petrol stations or any other emergency measures to deal with the shortage.

The county council added there had been no major impact or disruption to the delivery of their service.

Councillor Richard Roberts, Leader of Hertfordshire County Council said: "We understand that fuel stocks are now stabilising and we can all help this situation in Hertfordshire by following the government advice and continuing with our normal arrangements for filling up with fuel.

"By continuing to act in a sensible way, we can avoid further disruption to us all, and in particular to key workers.

"In addition to many staff continuing to work from home where they can, we've also seen an increase of informal car-sharing arrangements, as well as anecdotal evidence that more children are walking to school this week."