Boris Johnson - 'We'll Save Christmas!'

Go about your business as normal, Britons urged

- Martyn Brown

Boris Johnson is drawing up urgent plans to avert a Christmas crisis.

He pledged to keep petrol stations and supermarket shelves stocked and urged people to do their bit by carrying on as normal. The Prime Minister yesterday said he was confident petrol station stocks were “stabilising” and told drivers to fill up their cars in the “normal way”. He spoke as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace approved the request to put up to 300 troops on standby to deliver fuel tankers under emergency plan Operation Escalin.

Defences sources suggested troops would start moving the lorries to petrol stations later this week, with 150 drivers and 150 drivers’ mates available.

Training drivers to use civilian fuel company tankers is expected to take place over the next three days, so the first deliveries could happen by the end of the week.

Mr Johnson said: “What we want to do is to make sure we have all the preparations needed to get through to Christmas and beyond, not just in supply for petrol stations but all parts of the supply chain.”

Farmers have warned of a Christmas turkey shortage because visa changes to allow labour recruitment from abroad have come too late.

There are also concerns meat, fizzy drinks and beer supplies will run dry because of the rising cost of carbon dioxide. Thousands of temporary visas are also being offered to encourage drivers to come to Britain on a short-term basis.

But Mr Johnson indicated he would not open the flood gates to overseas truckers.