AFP

LONDON BRITISH motorists flocked to petrol stations on Thursday to stock up ahead of a threatened strike by fuel tanker drivers as the government faced accusations of sparking a panic.

Retailers reported a huge increase in sales of jerrycans after a minister advised people to fill them with fuel, while petrol sales had soared by 81 percent above normal on Wednesday.

Opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband called on Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise after the government issued a string of conflicting messages to motorists.

“The prime minister is presiding over a shambles on petrol. The country is paying the price for the incompetent way he is governing,” he said.

Energy Minister Ed Davey denied the government was creating panic, but repeated that motorists should fill up where possible.

“Our major advice is that people just need to do the sensible thing if they’re going into the petrol station, they should get a full tank of petrol, not a half-tank of petrol, and they should top up where necessary,” he told the BBC.

Workers in five oil companies have already voted in favour of industrial action over terms, conditions and safety standards but have not yet set a date for a strike.

The fuel saga hotted up on Wednesday when senior cabinet minister Francis Maude said that motorists should fill up jerry cans with petrol and keep them in their garages.