The leader of Buckinghamshire council, says the "hyped" media coverage caused the panic buying of petrol.

Petrol stations have seen manic queues since Friday with drivers desperately filling up their tanks after it was reported there was a shortage of lorry drivers.

Due to this massive increase in demand many petrol stations shave seen their supplies run empty, however, yesterday Boris Johnson said the situation was stabilising.

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Speaking on BBC News on Wednesday, Cllr Martin Tett said: “Frankly, I hadn’t heard Labour or the Lib Dems flagging this as a petrol crisis until Saturday morning.

"I actually think this was difficult to foresee and to a large extent I think the media have a lot to take account for on this.

“I saw the news on Thursday night with the BBC running this incessantly as their top story and I said to my wife, ‘This is going to cause a panic, the way this is being hyped is going to cause a panic.'”

On September 23 BBC News at Ten lead with the story about the energy crisis and expected increases in bills, with its second top story the issue around petrol availability in the following way: "BP and Esso close some of their petrol stations because of a shortage of lorry drivers. Downing Street said people should buy fuel as normal."

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The following day, transport secretary Grant Shapps said he would move “heaven and Earth” to make sure there was no shortage of petrol on BBC's Today programme.

Tett added: “We have plenty of fuel in this country. What's actually happening is people are panicking.

“People have a habit of panicking when they hear this word ‘shortage’.”

Today, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said there are signs that the petrol crisis is "beginning to improve" with soldiers set to deliver fuel within the next couple of days as well as the government drawing on its tanker reserve fleet.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents over half of the UK's 8,000 filling stations, has said there are "early signs" the pressure is starting to ease at the pumps.