Staffordshire County Council has urged Biddulph residents and those around the county to "play their part" by conserving fuel after the town's petrol stations were forced to close.

Biddulph and Staffordshire, like the rest of the country, has seen issues with availability of fuel at its petrol stations, leading to long queues and forecourts running out in some cases.

Nub News reported recently how Petrol stations in Biddulph have been intermittently running out of fuel over the weekend and into this week as the fuel crisis continued.

Sainsbury's petrol station in Biddulph and Essar in Knypersley have both been closed recently due to a lack of fuel.

The Government says there is plenty of fuel in the refineries and is working on plans to restock the pumps, saying it expects the situation to be resolved in the coming days.

Now, everyone is being encouraged to only top up their cars with the usual amount to allow petrol stations to get back to normal and to allow workers such as the emergency services, health and care workers, school transport staff and taxis easily get the fuel they need in the next few days.

The council says this is a temporary situation, but as a precautionary measure the authority will also be looking at its business continuity plans to ensure critical services can be maintained. It says there are currently no services significantly affected, the situation is being closely monitored.

Alan White, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: "We would encourage everyone to play their part in the next few days by only getting as much fuel as they really need, working from home where possible and to try and cut back on non-essential longer journeys if they can.

"This will make it easier for people who do need to fill up for their work such as police, fire and ambulance crews, NHS and Care workers and education and transport workers to do just that and allow our forecourts to rebuild their stocks."