A petrol station manager has hit out at bosses for leaving his pumps dry while rivals clean up.

Loyal customers of Iram Mughal and his Save station in Spencer Road, Clayton, are being forced to turn elsewhere for their fill-ups as the site has been left dry for the past nine days.

Mr Mughal, who has managed the station since 1993, says other sites have been getting deliveries since the fuel blockade ended and his customers are rapidly losing patience.

He said: "My customers are doing their best to stay loyal but what can they do if I have not got any fuel?

"All the other stations seem to have petrol apart from me. I can't pay the rent to the company for the site if I can't sell fuel but if I don't get a delivery soon that could be the case.

"The customers know it's not my fault, they've been really good. They got angry during the blockades when prices went up by 6p, but even then they have stood by me.

"I could understand the lack of fuel when the blockade was on but that was lifted last week and I'm still yet to get a delivery."

He added; "I've still been charged a full month's rent of more than £1,000, even though I had no fuel."

Truckers and tractor drivers were the main driving forces behind last week's fuel blockades outside depots and terminals around the country.

They were protesting at fuel prices and brought the country to a standstill as filling stations ran dry and, in some places, the action led to food rationing as supplies to shops ran low.

A spokesman for Save said the company was getting tanker deliveries to its sites as quickly as it could.

She said: "It is in all our interests to get petrol to the pumps as quickly as possible and only a few of our sites are still awaiting deliveries."