Page 1049 - Reading Mercury

Apart from these towns all main Post Offices will issue coupons. In addition all sub-
post offices will issue them.
Mr. Nigel Jeffries, Assistant Postmaster responsible for petrol coupon rationing,
appealed to the public to go to the post office they usually use. All a motorist needs to
collect his coupons are his vehicle registration document (log-book), and the vehicle’s
current licence (tax disc).
Today (Thursday) motorists whose surnames begin with A or B can collect their
coupons. Tomorrow motorists whose surnames begin with C can collect their
coupons,
The 12-day programme continues. Surnames beginning D and E—December 1st; F.
th
th
th
G—December 3rd; H—December 4 ; I, J, K, L, —December 5 ; M—December 6 ;
th
th
th
N, O, P—December 7 ; Q, R—December 8 ; S—December 10 ; T, U, V—
th
th
December 11 , X, Y, Z—December 12 .
The special centres will be open 8.30 a.m.-6.30 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 8.30
a.m.-5.30 p.m. on Saturdays. Sub-post offices will continue their normal business
hours.

UNOFFICIAL RATIONING
Garage owners in Berkshire and surrounding areas are facing what looks like an
uphill struggle in trying to prevent their petrol pumps from running dry. Already the
first week of short supply has taken its toll with many garages rationing petrol, closing
early and closing altogether on Sundays.
A spokesman for the district branch of the Motor Agents Association said he knew
of cases where petrol supplies had been cut by 40% to some garages. The M.A.A.
itself has expressed concern that some garages are getting 50% less petrol than they
should. Most petrol stations were now restricting supplies and serving only regular
customers.

th
Thur 6 Dec
THE LONG WAIT FOR VERY LITTLE
The great petrol panic gripped Berkshire this week with motorists queuing up to an
hour for a few gallons and many filling stations closed and barricaded by mid-day
One extreme case was in Reading where the Heron Garage on the A4 closed
yesterday (Wednesday) morning after staff objected to the attitude of queuing
motorists.
In Maidenhead yesterday and Tuesday queues outside filling stations brought rush-
hour chaos. “Motorists are desperate, panic-stricken and anxious to keep their tanks
filled to the brim,” said a spokesman for one leading petrol station.
But while others bemoaned the worsening situation Berkshire County Council
chiefs met yesterday to try and do something concrete. They agreed to aim at a
reduction of fuel consumption of ten per cent, by restricting the use of council
vehicles.
Mr. Keith Byard of Wokingham Motors, Finchampstead Road, appealed to
motorists to stop panicking and settle for their usual amount of fuel. “We are having
to close early to conserve petrol otherwise we would have sold our quota long ago.
The situation has worsened in the last few days. People queue when many of them
already have nearly full tanks, On Tuesday we had to close in the middle of the
morning to take stock. We could have sold three or four times our normal amount.”

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