SIR – As painful as higher prices of petrol and diesel are going to be for many, due to increased duty and VAT, that is nothing compared to when you can’t buy any.

Having been driving since 1964, I remember vividly two serious fuel shortages in the UK – the first in November 1973 when the Government planned to ‘ration’ supplies and actually issued petrol coupons to each vehicle owner. I still have mine.

The only other shortage was in June 1979, when after returning from a three-week holiday in France, I was astonished to find not one petrol station open anywhere after landing at Portsmouth Docks on a Sunday morning, until I reached Woodhall Services near Sheffield on the M1 which would only sell us two gallons of two-star!

The cost to fill up today at the supermarket was eye-watering when I am old enough to remember petrol cost just four and fourpence halfpenny – or 23p a gallon – in 1964. But at least it’s available – and that’s what really matters.

D S Boyes, Rodley Lane, Leeds