Downing Street today urged the public not to panic buy petrol as a threatened four-day strike by tanker drivers nears.

Gordon Brown's spokesman urged both sides in the strike to reach a resolution, to prevent petrol stations starting to run out of fuel from the weekend.

Hundreds of drivers who supply fuel to almost 1,000 Shell garages as well as factories and some smaller airports are due to walk out at 6am on Friday after talks to resolve their pay dispute broke down.

The No 10 spokesman said today: “We believe that this strike is unnecessary and we would want to ensure that nothing was done that inconvenienced the public.

“But the most responsible thing the public can do is to continue to buy as normal.”

He confirmed that contingency plans were being put in place in preparation for the strike. Government sources say that if a strike affected other fuel companies or there were the merest hint of copycat action, it will invoke emergency powers which could order soldiers to drive tankers for oil companies.

The Government has already activated a memorandum of understanding allowing the oil companies to co-operate with one another, exchanging information about their stock levels, without being accused of acting as a cartel.

Under normal circumstances such collaboration would be illegal and in breach of competition law. The deal was struck with officials and oil company representatives last Friday to allow companies to move fuel around the country to the areas and petrol stations where it is most needed, effectively sanctioning the fuel industry jointly to solve any distribution and logistical challenges.

John Hutton, the Business Secretary, is said to be concerned that the strike could have a more widespread impact than the stoppage at the Grangemouth oil refinery in April.

About 600 tanker drivers employed by haulage companies Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport are threatening a four-day walkout after their claim for a 13 per cent pay rise was rejected. The garages they supply are mainly in the South East, the Midlands and the North West of England, and in central Scotland.

But the impact of the industrial action would be felt more widely if the striking drivers picketed distribution depots used by other companies, or if other drivers joined in the protest.

"It is difficult to gauge what the impact of the strike would be if it went ahead," a spokesman for the Department for Business said yesterday. "Shell accounts for about one in 10 filling stations and it is inevitable there would be some stock-outs. If the strike were to affect other retailers, it would have a more significant impact."

The haulage companies have offered to raise drivers' annual average salaries, currently £36,500, by 6.5 per cent to £39,000. Hoyer says that it has already increased pay by 27 per cent in the last four years, and that it is "disappointed" by the reaction of Unite, the drivers' union.

The union says that the £36,500 average salary includes a lot of overtime, and accuses Shell of putting pressure on the haulage companies to keep pay down.

Mr Hutton is said to be encouraged that parties have agreed to meet with conciliation service, ACAS, and hopes a resolution will be reached to prevent any disruption to people’s lives and livelihoods.

"The Government believes there are no grounds to justify strike action and fears such a move would have a disproportionate impact on ordinary people wishing to conduct their daily lives and businesses," a spokesman said.

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