Most readers of the Watford Observer say they avoided partaking in the panic buying madness seen nationally, according to a poll.

A poll was conducted to see how the petrol panic has affected them, and whether readers were adhering to Government advice to “be sensible” and “continue to buy fuel as they normally would”, or whether they were among those flocking to fill up their tank.

Long queues have been filling at forecourts since Friday which has been causing lengthy delays.

Out of the 605 people that took part in the poll, the majority - 32 per cent – said that they cannot go anywhere because they do not have enough fuel, and cannot be sure if they would get some if they drove to a petrol station.

Then 28 per cent of voters said they were “sitting this one out”, acknowledging that other people need to travel more than they do.

However there were 27 per cent of voters that said they stayed at home initially, but may need to travel soon and they are getting worried about the situation.

According to our poll, motorists that actually filled up their tanks are in the minority.

In fact, seven per cent of voters said they purchased fuel on Friday because they “didn’t want to fall victim to the shortage”.

Then six per cent of voters said they went during the weekend because they were worried they could “get stuck because of the panic buying”.

UK fuel suppliers say they expect demand to return to normal “in the coming days” as more cars than usual have been filled up.

A joint statement among major fuel suppliers reads: “There is plenty of fuel at UK refineries and terminals, and as an industry we are working closely with the government to help ensure fuel is available to be delivered to stations across the country.

“As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, we expect that demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, easing pressures on fuel station forecourts. We would encourage everyone to buy fuel as they usually would.

“We remain enormously grateful to all forecourt staff and HGV drivers for working tirelessly to maintain supplies during this time.”