PETROL stations in South Bucks are under threat of running dry as motorists began panic-buying after the protests over fuel prices.

PETROL stations in South Bucks are under threat of running dry as motorists began panic-buying after the protests over fuel prices.

Worried motorists are reacting to the news that hundreds of garages throughout Britain have already run dry after farmers and hauliers began a blockade of refineries and fuel depots in protest at this county's expensive fuel prices - the highest in Europe.

But Chancellor Gordon Brown is refusing to bow to the pressure and yesterday some managers at garages throughout South Bucks voiced concern that their fuel tanks could run dry within days if motorists do not stop their panic-buying.

A spokesman for Chesham's Elf Oil UK station, Amersham Road, Chesham, said he had witnessed a three-fold leap in the amount of fuel sold.

He said: 'We are running out of fuel now and we won't get a delivery until Thursday. Motorists are really panicking so we are a lot busier than normal. Everyone's filling up their tanks - but if we run out, we run out.'

A spokesman for the Esso West End Filling Station, West Wycombe Road, High Wycombe, said: 'People have been coming to us from Aylesbury and we have even taken phone calls from people making sure they can get petrol from us later this week. We really have been very, very busy.'

It is believed that some service stations in the area have even started to ration individual customer fuel purchases to discourage hoarding.

The manager at the Esso station at Hazlemere Crossroads, Amersham Road, Hazlemere, explained that a fuel delivery failed to arrive and that some of their pumps were forced to close.

She said: 'Motorists are literally queuing up to get on the forecourt. They've been filling up petrol cans and everything.'

She also explained how one lorry driver had to be stopped by garage staff after attempting to fill a large oil barrel with fuel.

She added: 'The situation has calmed down because we simply haven't got the fuel to sell.'

Motorist Liam Morris, a farmer from Saunderton Lea, near Princes Risborough, said: 'I think the Government should listen to the motorist - it's a disgrace. We've now got the situation where people are spending over 90p for a litre and that's ridiculous.'

Dominic Grieve, MP for Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross, said the Government could not afford to ignore the problem of fuel costs any longer.

He said: 'The Government has to consider very carefully how to deal with this situation which is now damaging the economy.'

A spokesman for Bristol Rovers FC, who are due to play Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park tonight, said many Rovers fans might not be be able to get to the game because of fuel shortages in the Bristol area.