Petrol stations across Birmingham predicted they would run out of fuel today if high demand continued.

Fears that drivers were stockpiling petrol ahead of protests later this week were raised as retailers appealed for calm. Some forecourts warned they could run dry amid panicbuying by motorists.

One worker at a Texaco garage on the city-bound carriageway of the Small Heath Highway said they had already run out of unleaded petrol and were awaiting a delivery.

A worker at Petrol Express Ltd, in Sandon Road, Smethwick, said: "We've done in a morning what we normally do in a day. We've done double or triple the business.

"If it continues the way it has, I shall probably run out. And the problem is going to be with getting deliveries because so many garages are ordering tankers."

At the BP Express Shopping garage in Chester Road, Chelmsley Wood, staff reported motorists queuing down the road to get on to the forecourt and said five local stations had run out of petrol.

Protesters from the Fuel Lobby have given Ministers until today to meet them or face three days of demonstrations starting tomorrow. The lobby has been sparked by the price of petrol, which has reached #1 a litre after rising more than 20 per cent in recent months.

The Institute of Directors urged Chancellor Gordon Brown to make a temporary cut in fuel duty and said half of the petrol pump price went in taxation.

However, environmental campaigners urged Mr Brown to resist the pressure and claimed the real cost of motoring was lower now than when Labour took power in 1997.

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Fuel suppliers said today they were struggling to cope with a week's demand in just one day.

They called for calm as demand at the pumps across the UK increased amid fears of blockades at refineries and resultant shortages reminiscent of the 2000 fuel crisis.

The UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA), which represents firms such as Shell, BP, Esso and Total, said there was no need for motorists to panic.

Chris Hunt, UKPIA's director-general, said tankers delivering fuel to the forecourts had been increased by 10%-15%.

He said: "We have had a week's-worth of demand in one day.

"I believe folks are still queuing up, but there is absolutely no need to do so. There is absolutely no problem with fuel supply.

"It's merely an issue of getting the tankers to the filling stations."

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