MOTORISTS in Swindon have started panic buying petrol as the country lurches towards a possible second wave of fuel protests.

Petrol stations in the Swindon area have reported increased trade at the pumps as motorists look to fill up before any renewed action.

The increased demand comes despite assurances from Home Secretary Jack Straw that everything will be done to maintain deliveries even if that means deploying troops to drive fuel tankers.

And one leading fuel campaigner has also hinted that he will not get involved in organising further widespread blockades.

The protesters, who are demanding a 15p cut in petrol duty, set the Government a 60-day deadline to meet their demands.

That deadline expires on November 13 but Swindon motorists are already preparing for the worst.

Many stations say they have already run out of certain types of petrol and there are queues at others.

At Esso in Kingshill Road signs have gone up telling drivers that unleaded fuel has run out and queues at Tesco in Ocotal Way stretch out of the forecourt.

Tesco customer services manager Phil Pooley said: "We have been very busy, with people queuing as far back as the roundabout.

"There does appear to have been a lot of panic buying, but we don't seem to have any problems with fuel supplies to our site here. I don't quite understand what is the purpose of the panic buying, but we've got people outside directing traffic and we're coping. We haven't put any restrictions on how much fuel people can buy."

Peggy Stoke, of the Rodbourne Service Station, said: "It has been very busy. The diesel has already dried up."

Karen Rashid, of the Shell UK station in Wootton Bassett, said motorists were clearly fearing the worst.

"It has gone absolutely manic. Normally in the morning I might have about three cars queuing. There have been six cars queuing for four pumps. It is absolutely stupid," she said.

The town's pumps ran dry during September as the nation ground to a halt. Blockades of oil refineries meant tankers were unable to get through to Swindon and the surrounding district. While angry motorists were unable to fill up, bus services were limited, several schools were forced to close and the crisis even forced the postponement of Swindon Town's clash with Cambridge United.