A quarter of British drivers admit to panic buying fuel in recent crisis

Close to a quarter (24%) of UK drivers have admitted to joining the queues to fill up their tanks in the continuing fuel “crisis”, according to brand new statistics.

The research, published today by used car finance company Choosemycar.com, showed that millions of drivers fell victim to the hysteria and headed to the petrol pumps.

There were also variations geographically. Regionally, the Yorkshire and Humber region was more relaxed, with just 17 per cent taking action.

The West Midlands and Greater London, however, were most likely to fill up, both seeing 37 per cent admitting to fuelling up.

Interestingly, men were more likely to take action, with 26 per cent taking action, compared to just 22 per cent of women.

And age matters - with the younger age bracket of 18-34 seeing a huge 37% admitting to filling up, while just 22% of the 35-54 age bracket took action - and just 17% of the over 55s.

Other interesting statistics include:

• 37% increase in searches for electric cars on Choosemycar.com WoW

• 25% of people are more likely to look to buy an electric car as my next car due to costs and potential shortages of fuel

• Half of drivers (50%) are changing their car usage habits to conserve fuel

• 46% of drivers more likely to fill my tank next time they go to the petrol station

• 45% of drivers will now keep my tank over half full now because of potential shortages

• London and Birmingham saw 31% of drivers take action to fill up, Norwich saw 30% action with 28% of people in Manchester and Glasgow heading to the pumps because of the panic

Founder of Choosemycar.com Nick Zapolski, said: “While it’s easy to pass judgement on other drivers, our stats show that millions of UK drivers didn’t want to take any chances.

“Although we were told there actually was no shortage of fuel, the long queues and endless stations running out was enough to send a quarter of us to the pumps.

“It just shows how reliant we have all become on our cars and the anxiety it creates when we believe we might not have access to one.

"It shows the importance of having a reliable, working car and the impact they have on our lives - and perhaps will spark renewed interest in electric vehicles in the future. EV car searches on our website are up 37% WoW since the panic buying started!”