British soldiers to start driving fuel tankers soon to replenish empty pumps

British soldiers will start driving tankers soon to replenish empty pumps as drivers queued again for fuel after days of shortages, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation was improving.

Britain has been gripped by a rush of panic buying for almost a week that has left pumps dry across major cities, after oil companies warned they did not have enough tanker drivers to move gasoline and diesel from refineries to filling stations.

Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said 150 soldiers had been mobilized, and would be driving tankers within a few days.

"The last few days have been difficult, we've seen large queues. But I think the situation is stabilizing, we're getting petrol into the forecourts. I think we're going to see our way through this," Kwarteng said.

He said the government's reserve tanker fleet, which numbers 80 vehicles according to a 2019 assessment, would be operating by later in the day, driven by civilians, to help deliver fuel across the country.

Johnson has sought to quell concerns, saying supplies were returning to normal while also urging people not to panic buy.

A shortage of around 100,000 drivers has sown chaos through supply chains and raised the spectre of empty shelves and price increases at Christmas.