Long queues have formed at Swale petrol stations amid fears of a national fuel strike.

At Tesco in Sheerness motorists have been stopped from filling up jerry cans and asked to only put fuel in their cars.

The station in Bridge Road has now run out of standard unleaded petrol.

A worker is stationed at the entrance to advise drivers. He said they a hoping for a delivery, but do not know when it will come.

In the space of five minutes this afternoon, 30 separate cars arrived, which equates to 360 cars an hour at that rate.

The increase in sales came after Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude suggested motorists fill up any spare jerry cans with fuel even though the walk-out might not begin for two weeks.

The Island’s other available garage, Gulf, in the High Street, Sheerness, reported much more business than usual.

Manager, Erney Fernanado, said: "We are very busy. We have kept all the pumps open, we didn’t have any problems because we have new stock as well.

"When I look outside I can see the queue is there for the petrol, it is busy here.

"The customers are filling their cars mostly but sometimes they are taking cans for their lawnmowers and stuff."

Over on the mainland independents saw a surge in sales. Bredgar Garage reported an increase as did Doddington Service Station, where owner John Doe welcomed a number of new customers.

"We've had lots of people filling up, mainly panic buying. It's been our regulars but there were also a lot of people we hadn't seen before," he said.

"I just had a tanker delivery in this morning (Thursday) and usually only have one every 10 days. The way it's shooting out, we might have to get another tanker in next week."

Sandra Paine, shop assistant at Harvest Fuels, in London Road, Bapchild, added: "We still have petrol available and we have waiting for another tanker to arrive later today.

"We have been busier than usual but we are still open."

However, Kent Fire and Rescue Service is among the fire brigades to criticise the government advice.

Stuart Skilton, head of community safety at KFRS, said: "We strongly advise against bulk buying and storage of petrol and people need to be aware that there are strict regulations about how and where it is kept.

"Only approved storage containers should be used and residents should not store or transport more than a maximum of two times 10 litres in approved metal containers, or two times five litres in approved plastic containers, over and above that stored in your vehicle fuel tank."