'It's not affecting us' - fuel crisis appearing to ease ahead of big weekend

With one of racing’s biggest weekends fast approaching the fuel supply crisis which has caused some petrol stations to run dry and led to concerns about horses being able to travel has appeared to be showing signs of easing.

While lengthy queues remained at many forecourts in Britain on Tuesday as drivers sought to fill up their tanks, transport secretary Grant Shapps said there were "tentative signs" that the panic buying was easing and people were able to get access to fuel more easily.

The statement was backed up by Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, who said that the "extreme demand levels witnessed over the weekend have eased somewhat".

Speaking to Sky News, he said: "We are hopeful that we are seeing the first signs of a move towards equilibrium later in the week.

"We hope that motorists are reducing purchases and the oil companies are continuing to replenish ground, so there will be some normality that very much depends on the public."

The increased ability for motorists to refuel comes at a key point for racing participants, with Newmarket hosting the Group 1 Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes on Saturday and prominent cards also taking place at Ascot and Redcar.

Karl Burke: Yorkshire trainer has not faced any fuel problems so farCredit: Dan Abraham (Getty Images/Pool)

A number of British horses are also set to travel to Paris over the coming days to compete at the two-day Arc meeting, including Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe favourite Adayar and his stablemate Hurricane Lane.

Racing figures in Newmarket and Lambourn expressed no more than minor concerns about the fuel shortages when asked on Tuesday, while trainer Karl Burke, based near Middleham in Yorkshire, said his operation was not experiencing the difficulties others had faced.

"It's not affecting us," he said. "The horseboxes went up to Ayr yesterday and I told the lads to keep them at least half full if they can but there doesn't seem to be any shortage around Leyburn. I went up to Newcastle yesterday and managed to get filled up easily enough on the way."

Racing was not without its fuel-related casualties on Tuesday, with Psyche a non-runner at Wolverhampton due to a lack of fuel locally for trainer Chris Gordon.

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