PANIC buying of petrol caused several Wyre Forest petrol stations to run out of fuel over the past few days.

Residents in the district rushed to fill up their tanks amid national fears that three days of protests over fuel costs at oil refineries could see tankers unable to make deliveries.

That was after protests in 2000 caused motorists across the UK to suffer fuel shortages.

Kevin Holland, a cashier at Habberley Service Station in Franche Road, Kidderminster, said yesterday they had "nothing left" - after the pumps ran out of unleaded at about 10am on Tuesday and diesel later the same day.

"We've coned all the pumps off and put signs up saying 'no petrol' but still people keep on coming and asking for petrol," he said, "We don't know when we'll get more in."

Raj Dattani, who owns Datt petrol station in Birmingham Road, Kidderminster, meanwhile blamed the media for causing people to "panic for nothing".

He said they had run out of petrol on Tuesday but had plenty of "fuel" yesterday.

"I think people are all panicking for nothing - that's all it is," he said, "I think it will calm down now."

A spokeswoman for Hartlebury Service Station echoed his prediction, saying they had been "phenomenally busy" on Monday, when their diesel and unleaded pumps ran "dry" and were not refilled until Tuesday evening. She believed the worst had passed.

Although Total in Worcester Road, Kidderminster, managed to keep a continuous supply of fuel throughout the beginning of the week, assistant manager, Craig Simmons, said yesterday morning it was "a matter of hours" before the pumps would run dry.

"We've kept it going until now but I think we'll run out later today," he said.

"We've had much more trade than normal."

The petrol station at Sainsbury's supermarket in Kidderminster also ran out of unleaded fuel for a few hours on Tuesday, according to manager, Ian Lewis, but was "fine" yesterday.

A spokeswoman for rival supermarket giant, Tesco, said the filling station at their Kidderminster branch had had "no problem" with supply.