Fuel supplies: Mortar tanker tailed by drivers looking for petrol

A tanker driver has told how he was tailed by about 20 drivers who were dismayed to discover he was not transporting petrol.

Johnny Anderson, who drives for Weaver Haulage, was transporting dry mortar mix from Bilston, Wolverhampton, to a building site in Northamptonshire.

When he reached his destination, he saw a line of traffic backed up behind him.

"The man at the front... actually said 'You could have stopped and told us you weren't a petrol tanker," he said.

The incident came as lengthy queues formed at forecourts amid petrol and diesel supply problems.

Mr Anderson, from Harworth, Nottinghamshire, said he was delivering to the David Wilson Homes development at Overstone on Thursday.

He was on the A43 when he first realised he was being followed.

"I didn't notice initially but then on the dual carriageway, I noticed nobody was overtaking me and saw a string of about 20 cars behind me," he said.

"When I eventually turned left into a road that would take me to the site entrance, all these cars turned left with me."

Three-quarters of a mile later, when he stopped at the site entrance, he heard car horns honking, he said.

Thinking something had fallen off his vehicle, he got out and saw the queue of vehicles.

"The man at the front wound down his window and asked me which petrol station I was going to," he said.

"When I said I wasn't, he asked me 'Why not?' and when I said I wasn't carrying petrol, he actually said 'You could have stopped and told us you weren't a petrol tanker'.

"I couldn't believe it... I just went full McEnroe and said 'You cannot be serious!'

"Then the bloke behind asked me where the nearest petrol station was. It just beggars belief."

Mr Anderson, who has been driving double-bellied tankers for about six years, said while it was "quite funny", there was also a serious side.

"My cargo isn't dangerous but, if they are following a petrol tanker, their training is to call the police if they think they're being followed," he said.

"People need to stop and think... driving a tanker, no matter what the product, is quite a pressurised job, so following them puts extra pressure on drivers already under pressure without having to worry about absolute morons."

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