Petrol station workers have been receiving high levels of physical and verbal abuse during the fuel crisis, industry chiefs say.

       The Petrol Retailers Association condemned the “unacceptable” behaviour of some drivers.

       Filling stations that had closed have started to reopen as pressure on forecourts has eased, with fewer drivers queuing for fuel.

       Gordon Balmer, executive director of the association, said: “There are encouraging signs that the crisis at the pumps is easing, with forecourts reporting that they are taking further deliveries of fuel.

       “However, we are extremely disappointed to hear many forecourt staff are experiencing a high level of both verbal and physical abuse, which is completely unacceptable.”

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       He urged the public to refrain from giving abuse, adding: “We would urge the public to remember that fuel stocks remain normal at refineries and terminals, and deliveries have been reduced solely due to the shortage of HGV drivers”.

       Reports have emerged of fights breaking out on forecourts with, in one case, footage appearing on social media of a man wielding a knife, as tempers boiled over during long waits to fill up.

       The association said its latest survey found just over a quarter – 27 per cent – of its members were out of fuel on Wednesday, down from 37 per cent on Tuesday and half on Monday.

       Nevertheless, in an effort to further ease the crisis, the government announced it was starting to send out its reserve tanker fleet, driven by civilians, as well as deploying troops to deliver petrol.

       Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng warned it was likely to take a few days to get troops on the ground.

       “We have decided to do that,” he said. “I think in the next couple of days you will see some soldiers driving tankers.”

       Altogether 150 military drivers, together with 150 drivers’ mates, have been on standby since Monday.

       Fuel industry bosses including Shell, Esso and BP, also said there were signs the situation at the pumps had begun to improve.

       However, there are fears the supply of goods caused by the drastic shortage of lorry drivers could continue to be interrupted for months, possibly until Christmas.

       Asked whether the government could guarantee the problems would be solved by the festive season, Mr Kwarteng said: “I’m not guaranteeing anything. All I’m saying is that I think the situation is stabilising.”

       The retail fashion giant Next said shortages would continue to plague the wider economy in the run-up to Christmas unless the government took action to address the “looming skills crisis”.

       It said the shortage of HGV drivers had been “widely predicted for many months” and called on ministers to relax the immigration rules to avoid further shortfalls.

       Government figures showed there was a backlog of more than 56,000 applications for vocational driving licences waiting to be processed.

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       Ministers have blamed the pandemic, which led to the cancellation last year of tens of thousands of tests.

       Boris Johnson has said measures were being put in place to ensure “all parts of our supply chain”, not just petrol, were able to “get through to Christmas and beyond”.