PARTS of the Western Isles were in danger of running out of fuel last night as ferries remained stormbound and island storage tanks were closed for repairs.
Motorists in the Uists faced rationing at the pumps yesterday as the shortages began to bite.
One filling station on South Uist ran out of petrol altogether and angry islanders blamed wholesaler Scottish Fuels for the crisis. The company said the supply problem had been caused by fuel storage tanks at the Lochcarnan depot being out of use while they were repaired, and bad weather hitting backup deliveries by road tanker and ferry.
Retailers and motorists criticised the fuel firm over the timing of the repairs, one islander saying they were being treated as “second-class citizens”. Stephen Macaulay, manager of Hillside Filling Station at Lochboisdale, said: “We have no petrol. We got a delivery of diesel this morning but it was a fraction of what we would normally get.
“We’re rationing it, particularly for commercial vehicles.”
He said the petrol did not arrive when expected on Wednesday and his phone had rung off the hook since then, with customers anxious to know when the next supplies would arrive.”
Donald Macneil, owner of the Burnside Filling Station at Daliburgh, was rationing both petrol and diesel. He said: “I’ve been OK up to now but I was expecting fuel today because I need it for tomorrow. I’ve been told I won’t get any today because the ferry has been cancelled. I don’t know when I will get some.”
Roderick Maclean, of the A.C. Maclean garage at Castlebay on Barra, said he was running low on heating fuel but had enough petrol and diesel to last until Christmas. He was expecting a delivery today but he doubted it would arrive because more bad weather was forecast.
Neil MacDonald, a director of the company that runs filling stations at Ballivanich and Lincleate, said Ballivanich had run out of diesel last week but had since had a delivery.
A spokeswoman for John Morrison Filling Station at Lochmaddy said it had no problems with supply.
One Ballivanich resident said: “It’s ludicrous, shutting down plant at this time of year. They have no respect for us at all out here and are treating us as second-class citizens.
“North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra are being supplied from Stornoway. That takes two ferries, in winter conditions. We can’t be left high and dry with no backup.”
A Scottish Fuels spokesman said: “We are experiencing a temporary problem supplying our Lochcarnan depot due to the very poor weather and the fact that a number of tanks are out of commission due to maintenance.
“We are doing everything we can to rectify the problem and, weather permitting, we expect to have fresh supplies at Lochcarnan from Stornoway and the mainland in the coming days.”
Will the north get a white Christmas? Page 11