Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blamed a trade association for the haulage industry for "sparking" the supply "crisis" through "irresponsible briefings" to the public.

Although Mr Shapps did not name the group, the Mail on Sunday reported a Government source stating the Road Haulage Association was "entirely responsible for this panic and chaos".

Speaking to Sky News' Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme, the Cabinet minister said: "We need to ensure that people are reassured now that this rather manufactured situation has been created, because there's enough petrol in the country."

Asked about the panic buying, he said: "There was a meeting which took place about 10 days ago, a private meeting in which one of the haulage associations decided to leak the details to media, and that has created, as we have seen, quite a large degree of concern as people naturally react to those things.

"The good news is there is plenty of fuel, the bad news is if everyone carries on buying it when they don't need it then we will continue to have queues.

"Sooner or later everyone's cars will be more or less filled up, there won't be anywhere else to put fuel. It's not like the toilet roll crisis at the beginning of the pandemic where people could stockpile it, therefore it will come to an end.

"We just appeal to people to be sensible, fill up when you normally would. We've got this big package in place today in order to help alleviate the pressure and we ask people to do their part."

The Road Haulage Association has denied Grant Shapps' claim.