The government is considering temporary measures to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers which is wreaking havoc on a number of UK industries.
No 10 insisted on Friday night that any measures introduced would be “very strictly time-limited” amid reports that Boris Johnson had allowed ministers to relax UK immigration rules to allow more foreign drivers into the country.
And although Downing Street would not confirm whether any decisions had been made, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps earlier promised to “move heaven and earth” to get the situation solved.
The Financial Times and the Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister had given ministers the go-ahead to temporarily lift visa restrictions for foreign drivers.
The newspapers said up to 5,000 temporary visas could be granted for HGV drivers, while the Financial Times said a similar number would be approved for food processing workers, especially in the poultry industry.
Ministers met to discuss the plans on Friday, with reports suggesting the final sign-off could come over the weekend.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the changes had come too late for many.
He said: “The arrogance of Boris Johnson has cost jobs. He knew there was a fix to this problem but ploughed on regardless. He owes the British people an apology.”
And Sir Ed earned support from an unlikely source: the Daily Mail.
Amid stark headlines warning of a looming ‘winter of discontent’, the right-wing newspaper blared that the UK “needs nearly TWO MILLION workers” and splashed a headline on “urgent calls to relax immigration rules” to ease the crisis.
It comes as the CBI called for ministers to establish a taskforce on the same level as the Cobra emergency committee to deal with supply issues which have seen petrol forecourts close and empty shelves in supermarkets.
And there have been warnings that disruption to festive preparations will be “inevitable” if progress is not made to solve the shortfall of around 90,000 lorry drivers.
Esso, BP and Tesco forecourts have been affected by challenges getting petrol deliveries.
BP said that around 20 of its 1,200 petrol forecourts were closed due to a lack of available fuel, with between 50 and 100 sites affected by the loss of at least one grade of fuel.
A “small number” of Tesco refilling stations have also been impacted, said Esso owner ExxonMobil, which runs the sites.
And on Friday the EG Group, which has around 400 petrol stations in the UK, said it was imposing a £30 limit on customers “due to the current unprecedented customer demand for fuel”.
Meanwhile, around one in six adults in Britain said they were not able to buy essential food items at some point during the past two weeks due to products not being available, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics.
Related: European drivers to shun Johnson’s visa plea to solve UK petrol crisis