Drivers are being warned the fuel crisis is getting worse in the south east with the army ready to step in from Monday.

Fuel retail experts have warned petrol supplies are critical in London and south-east but they also say there's been an improvement caused by drivers restraining from filling up.

It comes as military drivers will be deployed to deliver fuel to forecourts from Monday as the crisis at the pumps continues.Almost 200 military personnel, including 100 drivers, have been training at haulier sites and will start deliveries to help relieve the situation at petrol stations, which ministers insist is stabilising.

The Government also announced that a temporary visa scheme for nearly 5,000 foreign food haulage drivers, which was due to expire on December 24, will be extended to the end of February, following criticism of its attractiveness to drivers.It comes as opposition parties raised the prospect of a parliamentary recall to address wider labour shortages and supply chain disruption.

Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, said: "While more fuel is being delivered to forecourts than is being sold overall, the situation remains critical in London and the South East where many filling stations remain dry."

There were fewer dry sites in Scotland, the north of England and parts of the Midlands, he said.

Echo: Part of the government's reserve tanker fleet based at a depot in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire. Military drivers will be deployed to deliver fuel to forecourts from Monday as the crisis at the pumps continues. Part of the government's reserve tanker fleet based at a depot in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire. Military drivers will be deployed to deliver fuel to forecourts from Monday as the crisis at the pumps continues.

Sir Keir Starmer said the temporary visa scheme would not be up and running “for weeks”, and added that the Prime Minister should, if necessary, recall Parliament to rush through legislation to ensure the shelves remain stocked in the run-up to Christmas.The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Boris Johnson “must immediately recall Parliament and convene cross-party talks to set out steps to effectively tackle the Brexit crisis”.

He added: “The severe labour shortages, soaring costs, empty supermarket shelves, ongoing fuel crisis and trading barriers are all inflicting serious and lasting harm.”

In an announcement on Friday evening, the Government said 300 fuel tanker drivers would be able to come to the UK from overseas “immediately” under a bespoke temporary visa which will last until March.

Some 4,700 other visas intended for foreign food haulage drivers will be extended beyond the initially announced three months and will last from late October to the end of February.

Echo:

A total of 5,500 poultry workers will also be allowed in to help keep supermarket shelves stocked with turkeys before Christmas.The Government has said these workers, who can arrive from late October, will be able to stay up to December 31 under the temporary visa scheme.

But the Government added the visas will not be a long-term solution and it wants employers to invest in the domestic workforce instead of relying on overseas labour.It said it is also working with the industry to find long-term solutions to the shortage of HGV drivers and to encourage more people to enter the logistics sector by improving pay and conditions.