CRAVEN traders battled to keep up with demand for food supplies as people rushed to stock up on bread and milk fearing they would run out.

Panic buying at the supermarkets and bakeries was just one of the knock-on effects of the fuel crisis scare.

Valerie Gray, an assistant at Craven Bakery, on Otley Street, Skipton, said the past few days had been "absolute bedlam."

She said the shop had sold out of bread by Wednesday lunchtime and even their bakery on the Snaygill Industrial Estate could not keep up with demand. "The fact is people are going mad, they are just panic buying."

It was a similar story at Wilds on Skipton High Street.

Manager Shirley Flemming said customers had been buying several loaves of bread at a time. The store had sold so much that even though their deliveries had continued there was no bread left by 1.30pm on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Morrisons said the Skipton store was no different to others around the country. "Yes, there is certainly stocking up being done," she said.

She added that deliveries would continue to get through for the foreseeable future and there was no need for this level of panic buying.

And fear of running out of fuel nearly cost a Skipton man his life after he set fire to himself whilst decanting petrol in his house.

Firefighters said he was "lucky to be alive" after they attended the fire on Broughton Road on Tuesday.

The man had been hoarding three large plastic containers of petrol in his house and the fuel had ignited by the pilot on the boiler.

The fire was in well alight when the two crews from Skipton arrived and paramedics were already at the scene treating the householder.

No additional casualties were found and members of the fire crew later discovered that the man's wife and child had escaped through the front door.

The man sustained burns to his back and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Cans containing petrol were also found in another part of the kitchen putting firefighters at greater risk.

Skipton's fire chief Stuart Stoney said: "Our priority is to save life and we had to search for potential casualties in the building. This additional fuel so near to the site of the fire, significantly increased the risk to firefighters searching the building."

Mr Stoney added the man had been fortunate not to have been more seriously hurt. "He has been extremely lucky to get out with just a burn to his back. His wife said he would only have to stay in hospital overnight."

Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control in under half an hour. The kitchen was severely damaged by the fire and the rest of the house suffered smoke damage.

Fire safety manager Robert Web added: "There are two lessons to be learnt here. Firstly, members of the public who attempt to circumnavigate the problem and store or stock pile fuel which may be illegal, are placing themselves in danger.

"Also petrol stations who issue fuel into non-approved containers maybe breaching their conditions of licence and make themselves liable for prosecution."