Thousands of petrol stations remain out of fuel When you lose 6,000 forecourts in as little as 10 or 12 years our energy resilience is being compromised. And if you then take the ones that are remaining, and about 2,000 of our members are rural, they're having to pay £25,000 tax to the government before the tanker leaves the terminal. So they're actually paying tax to the government before they've collected the tax from the motorist. On Wednesday last week Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister, urged motorists to stock up on fuel at their homes ahead of a proposed strike by tanker drivers. He told Sky news: "When it makes sense, a bit of extra fuel in a jerry can in the garage is a sensible precaution to take." In some cases retailers were forced to increase their prices leading to accusations that firms were seeking to profiteer from the shortage. Referring to the price hikes, Mr Madderson argued most of his members were "sensible" when it came to having to adjust their prices. He said that prices "are going crazy because several of our retailers have talked to their oil company suppliers who are unable to supply and have in a force majeure style arrangement agreed they can go out and source from third parties if they can find it." He added: "We've got one member....in the midlands. He's had approval to go out and source. He was selling unleaded at 137.9p, he's paid a fortune to get an extra load in, he's now selling at £147.9p. Most of them will price sensibly because they want their loyal customers to keep on returning and if they see that there is profiteering by their local site they may well take evasive action in future.