AT least half of Crewe's garages were completely out of fuel this afternoon (Tuesday) as the pump crisis continues to hit hard.

While Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said there are "tentative signs of stabilisation" at stations and he expects queues to die down in the coming days there was little sign of respite for beleaguered motorists across town.

Pumps at Morrisons, Texaco at Gateway, BP on Crewe Road and the Shell garage on Bradfield Road were all taped off, while several other garages had a limited number of pumps dispensing fuel.

Angry motorists jostled for position at the Tesco Extra in Vernon Way with staff having to turn away vehicles to prevent them blocking the road into the retail store.

Tesco does have petrol available for those prepared to wait. But elsewhere around Crewe supplies have run out.

At the Gateway Texaco station on Beswick Drive staff say a tank delivery is expected by 10pm tonight, but all pumps are currently off.

All pumps are closed at Morrisons on Dunwoody Way and the garage does not know when they will be back on.

The "no fuel" sign was up at BP's outlet on Crewe Road, while all pumps were closed off at Shell on Bradfield Road.

For those motorists prepared to be patient to fill their tanks there are a limited number of pumps dispensing at Essar on West Street.

More plentiful supplies are available at Co-op's Bradfield Road garage and the Esso garage at Tesco Express on Macon Way, for now.

Torrential rain has added to the problems of queueing, which has also compromised road safety with lines of cars backing up onto main routes.

Nationally, up to 150 military tanker drivers are preparing to deliver to forecourts which have run dry because of panic buying.

The government insists the needless buying of fuel has led to the forecourt queues which have plagued the country over the last four days.

There are calls that key workers should receive priority access to available fuel.