The UK is facing fuel shortages and in spite of placatory words and excuses from the authorities, tensions are rising. Confrontations, sometimes violent, have taken place on the forecourts of petrol stations. BP (British Petroleum) says a third of its pumps have run dry of popular grades. The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blames the shortage on HGV drivers: the fuel cannot be delivered to the pumps quickly enough. There is a shortage of some 100,000 drivers across the UK.