Panic buying at petrol stations is fuelling long queues and frustrating waits across the borough.

Tailbacks and soaring prices are greeting drivers at petrol station forecourts as fears rise that fuel will run out during a threatened fuel strike.

People have been filling cars and numerous jerry cans at the pumps, following conflicting messages from ministers about how to deal with the impending strike, and Halfords have reported a 467 per cent rise in demand for jerry cans.

In Elmbridge, Shell in West Molesey had no fuel signs up on Friday, March 30, and Esso opposite Hampton Court rail station had run out by 10pm on Thursday, March 29.

Sainsbury’s Cobham reportedly ran out, as did Esso in Esher, and Shell in Hinchley Wood.

Council worker Lynne Ganley, 62, was caught up in queues at the Shell garage in Hinchley Wood on Thursday, March 30, before the fuel ran dry.

She said: “I wouldn't usually fill up, but my tank was half full and if my husband doesn't have petrol in his car he’ll need mine to get to work.

“The reason it is like this is because of what the government said.”

Trainee accountant James Courdroy, 26, said: “This is the third petrol station I’ve been to, at Long Ditton there was a £30 maximum and the petrol station in Brighton Road was closed.”

Queues at petrol stations still in stock were packed with people stocking up for the weekend.

Rosie D wrote on community forum walton-on-thames.org: “There was dangerous queuing tonight (March 29) for petrol at the garage on Hersham road just near the halfway, the queue was leading on to the roundabout under the railway bridge stopping people getting past. The BP one further down was coned off.”

No strike has been finalised, so petrol stations are being refuelled, and drivers are advised to purchase fuel as normal, although the backlog could mean some stations waiting two to three days for deliveries.

Surrey County Council issued a warning to people stock-piling fuel.

They said it was illegal to keep more than a two suitable metal containers, each of a maximum capacity of 10 litres, or two plastic containers, of a five-litre maximum capacity.

This applies to containers kept in a vehicle parked in the garage or on the driveway, but not to the internal fuel tank, and petrol should be kept in a lockable container in a shed or secure garage instead of residential properties.