BP dealers nationwide have complained of sites running dry of unleaded petrol after the oil company transferred fuel deliveries to Hoyer on November 1.

The problems appear to be across England with dealers’ sites running dry as far south as Southampton and up to Cumbria in the North, as well as reports of late deliveries or deliveries arriving with no warning.

Sunil Tandon, managing director of the Kent-based Park Garage Group, was extremely angry about the continuing delivery problems across his BP sites. “I understand BP has recently changed to Hoyer for fuel deliveries, but the service we have received in the past few weeks is unacceptable. We’re not getting our deliveries on time and so we’ve been running dry. This is not only extremely frustrating for us, but also for our customers.”

However, the problems appear to have been patchy with other dealers reporting no problems following the changeover, or “only the minor teething problems you would expect with a changeover of this magnitude”.

PRA chairman Brian Madderson said: “The problems appear to be endemic across the UK having heard complaints from retailers in the south. East Anglia, Midlands and the North.”

A BP spokesperson said: “BP Fuel Delivery Service transitioned to Hoyer on 1 November. BP acknowledges that there has been some initial teething problems resulting in disruptions to the delivery service and customer communications as the activities have transferred. However, the cause of these disruptions have been identified and mitigating actions are now being implemented. BP and Hoyer are committed to meeting the needs of customers throughout the UK, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”