AGGRESSIVE motorists forced an Ilkley petrol station to close and staff at others faced intimidation in a week of anger at the pumps in Wharfedale.

Even as fuel tankers began to roll out of refineries yesterday, there was still no indication when petrol would reach garages in the area.

They remained closed and a knock-on effect began to build up:

l Supermarkets in Ilkley reported mass panic-buying.

l Bus services between Ilkley and Leeds are expected to be dramatically cut this evening if the fuel situation does not improve.

l Taxi offices were closed and drivers sent home as firms struggled to keep contract work going.

l Health services reduced non-emergency services.

l While people's bins should be emptied as normal, staff will not be handling bulk refuse and street cleaning has been stopped.

l If deliveries don't arrive at Leeds Bradford Airport soon, flights could be affected.

At the weekend, irate drivers demanding petrol at Ilkley's Riverside Service Station, in Leeds Road, forced managers to shut up shop - even though they still had petrol.

The station was just one of many across the country facing panic-buying customers desperate to fill up with the last drops of petrol.

"We were packed out all day Saturday and sold triple the amount we usually do," said cashier Natalie Spencer. "People were shouting and pushing one another and there were quite a few fights between drivers. Some people were pushing past others to try and get petrol.

"By Sunday night we had a bit of petrol left but decided to shut the pumps anyway because it was too stressful. Now we are just giving it to police and other emergency services," she said.

Staff at the station also bore the brunt of the anger with customers demanding to know when normal service would be resumed. "We told people 'How can we know - it's not our fault'," said Miss Spencer. "But it was mayhem - people were so angry."

It was a similar story at the Wharfeside Service Station, on Leeds Road, where staff had to deal with clueless drivers who were unaware of the national crisis.

"We had some people coming in who hadn't heard anything about the blockades," said a cashier at the station. "They were really surprised that there was no petrol and got very angry.

"Its ridiculous that drivers are taking it out on staff at petrol stations when it's nothing to do with us.

"Even when the blockades end it will take time for the fuel to get to us so we are expecting problems for some time yet."

The manager of Stepping Stones filling station on Leeds Road took drastic measures to avoid the chaos which was happening elsewhere. "We immediately closed the whole station when we ran out of fuel on Saturday lunchtime," said manager Adrian Tillett. "That way, it causes the staff a lot less problems."

And despite Tony Blair's assurances that the crisis would soon end there was no sign yesterday of any fuel reaching the area. All the filling stations in the town said it would be days before petrol was available.

Ray Holloway, spokesman for the Petrol Retailers Association, said: "It will take three weeks for us to get back to where we were before this crisis began."

He warned that it would be Saturday at the earliest before supplies were generally available to the public.

Meanwhile, fire chiefs issued a warning to people in Ilkley tempted to hoard petrol. It came after a Skipton man stockpiling petrol in his house set himself on fire.

He was said to be 'lucky to be alive'.

"People are entitled to keep small quantities in suitable containers," said a West Yorkshire Fire Service spokesman. "But these should not be stored in houses. flats or apartments.

l Crisis round-up - P3