As thousands prepare to make trips across the Channel for the bank holiday weekend, British motorists were advised to cancel trips to France today as fuel pumps ran dry and violent industrial action against employment reform spread across the country.
Up to half of the country’s 12,000-odd petrol stations are now empty, as riot police were sent in to try and lift blockades of fuel refineries.
By this afternoon, all but one of the blockades manned by union activists had been cleared away, a government spokesman said, adding that the situation is ‘improving everywhere, all over the country’.
It came as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned that ‘this country is dying from its inability to reform’.
Meanwhile, a mass brawl involving people smugglers at the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais left 40 injured, including a young female aid worker, yesterday.
The north and north-west of France have been badly affected by the fuel shortage – meaning any British people hoping to get down south could be in particular trouble.
As well as those travelling to the Continent this weekend, the situation could also affect others looking forward to the Euro 2016 football championships early next month.
Breakdown recovery firms said numerous customers had already been stranded, with the RAC saying journeys should be cancelled unless a vehicle has fuel for the entire journey.
Simon Williams, the RAC’s fuel spokesman, added: ‘Anyone currently in France is going to struggle to find fuel for their return journey and probably shouldn’t even attempt to get home unless they can do so on one tank.
‘We suspect finding somewhere to fill up in the worst-affected areas will be extremely difficult.’