'Fuel-ish behaviour': Police mock motorists queuing for three hours at closed station

28 September 2021, 17:11 | Updated: 28 September 2021, 17:24

Motorists queued for three hours to panic buy fuel – only to discover the petrol station had been closed.

Police who were called after a massive queue formed on a busy A-road mocked the "fuel-ish" behaviour on social media.

Officers reportedly found more than 100 motorists trying to access the Gulf station near the village of Burnaston in Derbyshire.

READ MORE: 'Knife' pulled and brawls break out at pumps as fuel queues show no sign of letting up

READ MORE: UK fuel crisis is 'direct consequence' of Brexit, Michel Barnier says

Swadlincote Police SNT wrote on Facebook: "Arriving at the unmanned petrol station on the extremely fast-flowing A516 roadway, officers observed long queues of cars attempting to enter the petrol station.

"Bizarrely, it soon became clear that the drivers had been queuing at a petrol station for several hours despite the fact that the garage was not open to the public and was unable to serve fuel following unknown persons who had caused damage to some of the petrol and diesel pumps."

The post revealed that officers were abused by some motorists when they intervened.

It said: "With regret, officers, who were stood outside in pouring rain directing traffic, were subjected to abuse and a series of inexplicable excuses of why they needed to enter a closed garage that was unable to sell fuel.

GP considers sleeping in work over fuel crisis

"An investigation is underway to locate two men in a white van who made threats to an officer at the scene after they were asked to leave the petrol station."

Police said one angry driver told officers he was so desperate to find fuel that he had driving around for more than three hours "and was furious".

The post added: "When asked how much fuel he’d used looking for petrol he finally appeared to grasp the lack of solid ground his argument stood upon."

A local bus company, Burton Bus Corporation, "kindly offered to have their vehicle commandeered to take stranded motorists to work".