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PM steps in as woman suffers burns decanting petrol in her kitchen after government earlier told motorists to stockpile fuel
David Cameron sought to reassure motorists that petrol supplies will not run out after a serious fire involving a woman decanting petrol in her kitchen cast doubt on the government's decision to encourage stockpiling.
Diane Hill, 46, was in a critical but stable condition in hospital with 40% burns after pouring petrol from a jerry can into a jug in her kitchen in York because her daughter needed fuel for her car.
The accident happened on Thursday night, a day after Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said the proposed tanker drivers' strike meant that "a bit of extra fuel in a jerry can in the garage is a sensible precaution to take". Some Labour figures blamed Maude personally for the accident and called for his resignation.
Cameron described the kitchen fire as "a desperate incident and a terrible thing" and he said that his heart went out to Hill and her family. Speaking after chairing a meeting of Cobra, the emergency committee, he insisted the government and fuel companies were doing all they could to address the shortages that have been caused by panic buying in some areas.
"The fuel companies are working flat out to resupply petrol stations," he said. "It is frustrating, I know, when petrol stations have queues. Everything that can be done is being done, but it will take some time."
The Department for Energy and Climate Change said on its website that there was no need to queue at petrol forecourts. "There is no urgency to top up your tank – a strike will not happen over Easter," it said.
A No 10 spokesman said: "The pressure has been reduced so there's no urgency, but the threat of strike action has not yet been lifted. It remains vital we take the necessary steps to keep the country safe in case there is a strike."
Cameron also welcomed the announcement from Unite, the union representing the tanker drivers, that there would be no strike over the Easter holidays. Unite said it would enter "substantive talks" with haulage companies under the aegis of Acas, the conciliation service.
But Cameron appealed to Unite to lift the strike threat entirely. "It is vitally important [Unite] enters these talks on Monday constructively. The most constructive thing they could do would be to call off the strike entirely," he said.
His comments were notably less provocative than those used by Maude about Unite earlier in the week, suggesting that ministers had been shocked by the accident in York and its possible link to the government's decision to encourage people to buy up fuel.
According to the fire service in York, Hill was decanting petrol in her kitchen from a green jerry can into a jug while her gas cooker was on. The vapours caught light, and in the ensuing panic she spilt petrol on her clothes and they also caught fire.
Hill was putting the petrol into a jug because she wanted to give it to her daughter who had run out of fuel, the fire service said. It is not clear whether this is related to the fuel crisis, although some garages in York had run out of petrol.
The Labour MP for Bassetlaw, John Mann, blamed Maude for instigating the fuel panic and said that he should "do the decent thing and resign". Toby Harris, a Labour peer, also called for Maude's resignation, labelling his conduct disgraceful.
Officially Labour were more cautious about blaming the government for the York petrol fire, but Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, suggested that Maude was at least in part responsible.
Balls told BBC Radio Leeds: "I think the prime minister woke up on Monday morning and thought, 'I've got the worst weekend I've had in government', because of the Tory donation scandal after a budget which had been judged by the country to be deeply unfair, and he thought, 'Why don't I try to divert attention?'
"So suddenly, we had government ministers talking up a strike which wasn't even called.
"[Cameron] sent out his minister to say, 'Fill up your jerry cans' and we've ended up with these queues, even though there's normal petrol deliveries. It was a political invention, the panic of the last couple of days, and the nation and some people are paying a very, very heavy price."
In Downing Street, it is now accepted that some of the language used by Maude earlier this week was regrettable. But, according to one insider, Cameron does not believe that he should be held responsible for an accident in a kitchen.
Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said the government should issue safety advice about petrol "as a matter of urgency". He said the public should be told how dangerous petrol can be "before we have another incident, perhaps with far worse consequences".
At the Cobra meeting, ministers discussed the contingency plans for a tanker drivers' strike after Easter. Hundreds of military personnel are being trained to drive trucks.
To make it easier for petrol stations to be restocked, the rules governing the maximum number of hours drivers can work have been temporarily relaxed. Until next Thursday, drivers will be allowed to work 11 hours a day instead of nine.