London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

‘I wanted to cry’: three key workers on being hit by the UK fuel crisis

‘I wanted to cry’: three key workers on being hit by the UK fuel crisis

A carer, a GP and a social worker speak about the impact the crisis is having on them and their work

With people in places across the UK still unable to fill up their tanks as petrol stations have run dry and British fuel prices have hit an eight-year high, three key workers – a carer, a GP and a social worker – spoke about the impact the situation was having on them and their work.

‘I’m completely stuck’


Rosie, a private carer from rural Norfolk, has already had to stop seeing some clients she visits owing to her nearly empty tank.

“I have been unable to get fuel, I have about a quarter of a tank left,” she said. “I’ve had to prioritise clients to whom I live closest, and those most vulnerable. Those with family members nearby, I’ve told them I’m probably not going to be able to see them. I think I can get through to Wednesday, then I’m completely stuck.”

She said the fuel shortage was potentially worse for those living in rural areas where there is no public transport worth mentioning.

“My nearest petrol station is miles away, so I have to use fuel to go hunting for more fuel. This situation has a big impact on people here. Care agencies are not prepared to cater for some of the remote areas I service.”

The impact on some of the people she cares for is enormous, she said. “I’m concerned how the families of people I can’t get to will manage. I have one particular family where the lady has just come out of hospital a week ago. If I don’t come, her only carer is her 79-year-old husband. They thankfully live only five miles away, so they are top of my list. But another family is 35 miles away, and I can’t do them at the moment, as much as I don’t like letting them down.

“Not being able to get fuel is having a huge knock-on effect on people. Family members might have to move in with vulnerable relatives, and I may have to go and stay with clients of mine, although I do hope this will all resolve itself when people calm down.”

‘I’ve told my surgery that I might not be back for work on Wednesday’


Sean Nolan, a GP from Somerset, first tried to get fuel on Friday before travelling to London for a cycling event at the weekend. “I was still looking at 1am on Saturday but places were either closed or empty,” he said.

Dr Sean Nolan outside a petrol station unable to get any fuel.


When the event finished on Sunday afternoon, although Nolan’s car fuel gauge indicated the tank was empty, he estimated he still had enough for about 10 miles of travel and agreed to take a friend home who had lost her lift because of the fuel crisis. Nolan spent an hour in a petrol station queue where drivers were “acting very aggressively”, but he couldn’t get any fuel.

He eventually parked his car and went into a bus depot to ask for advice. “Someone kindly gave me a large 2-litre handgel container to try and get some fuel but the stations were empty,” he said.

Shortly afterwards he met three men who were leaving their church after evening service, who said they had fuel in their van. “The next two hours were filled with gathering materials to siphon the fuel, and watching a YouTube video on how to work around the vehicle’s safety locks. “I took the tubing from my bike pump which needed a seal, so I used the NHS gloves from my car and the face masks I had available.

“The men who helped me were amazing and gave up a huge part of their evening. We all filled our mouths with diesel multiple times to siphon it. How many people are willing to drink diesel and get dirty to help someone they don’t know?”

After finally getting the 2 litres of fuel into the tank, Nolan arrived at his friend’s house in Twickenham at about 10.30pm, where he is staying until he can drive back home to Somerset.

“I won’t be able to get home tomorrow and I’ve already told my surgery that I might not even be back on Wednesday,” he said.

‘I wanted to cry’


“I genuinely thought the government would have done something by today,” said Emma in Nottinghamshire. “I live in quite a rural area and the nearest petrol station is about 15 miles away.”

Emma, a social worker in her 40s, has had to cancel her home visits, where she checks on children and ensures their safety. “I’ve alerted my manager who has allocated staff to help cover and I pray nothing happens in the meantime,” she said. Emma tried her local Tesco petrol station on Monday at about 10am after hearing that they had a fuel delivery an hour before. “When I got there it was closed – I was gutted,” she said.

“While I was standing there in disbelief, two cars arrived, one belonged to a district community nurse in uniform between calls, and the other was a primary school teacher. We just shook our heads and asked: ‘What do we do now?’ before jumping back into our cars to carry on the search. To be honest, I wanted to cry.”

Emma managed to make her way home and is going to try one more time tomorrow morning. “Some of us who are classed as critical workers have jobs to go to and I feel like the children I visit are my responsibility. My hands are tied and I just can’t physically get there to see them.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×