Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Brexit is a “contributing factor” in the ongoing fuel crisis gripping Britain.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme he said: “It is certainly a contributing factor.

“Whether you voted to leave or remain, it would be obvious that if we were to leave the EU we would have less HGV drivers than we would otherwise have.

“I think the British public should be angry and frustrated. This is a total lack of planning. It was predicted and predictable.”

This comes after Sir Starmer’s 90-minute speech at the Labour conference yesterday where he pushed through hecklers to share his vision for an election winning party.

Forecourt giant EG Group has announced a 5 per cent pay rise for more than 10,000 workers facing challenging conditions amid the UK’s fuel supply crisis.

The company, which owns around 400 sites across the UK, said it will increase hourly rates by an average of more than 5 per cent for employees over 18-years-old, with workers to expect a pay boost from Friday.

EG said on Thursday that the pay rise for employees is in “recognition of their hard work and commitment throughout the pandemic.”

Mohsin and Zuber Issa, co-founders and CEOs of EG Group, said: “Our colleagues have pulled out all the stops and been nothing short of heroic during often very difficult times since the start of the pandemic.”

Transport secretary Grant Shapps shared a 24-point list of government interventions to address the lorry driver shortage and resulting fuel supply crisis.

The list includes the recently announced three-month visa for 5,000 HGV drivers to work in the UK in the run-up to Christmas in addition to incentives for employers recruiting trainee drivers, additional funding from the Department for Education to train new drivers and “direct letters” to existing HGV license holders asking them to return.

In the post shared on Twitter, Mr Shapps wrote: “Coronavirus has caused a global shortage in HGV drivers globally.”

A 40-year-old man has died following an assault at a petrol station in Annfield Plain, County Durham.

The 40-year-old, named by police as Thomas Mallaby, was allegedly assaulted as the petrol station on Sunday, 26 September at 2.40am and was taken to hospital with serious injuries, The Daily Record reported.

However, police reported that he died as a result of his injuries on Tuesday afternoon. A 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the incident.

Detective Superintendent Dave Ashton, who is leading the investigation said the issue “was not connected in any way to the current issues of fuel shortages” although it occurred in a station forecourt.

Britain’s fuel crisis is back under control and will continue to ease, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said on Thursday.

“That crisis is now absolutely something which is back under control,” Clarke told Sky.

This comes as business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced yesterday that the government was sending out vehicles from its reserve tanker fleet, driven by civilian drivers, to provide “additional logistical capacity” to the industry.

Altogether 150 military drivers, together with 150 drivers’ mates, have been on standby since Monday to carry out deliveries to filling stations.

Figures from the Department for Transport have shown there is a backlog of more than 56,000 applications for vocational driving licences, including HGV and bus permits, waiting to be processed.

Petrol Retailers Association boss, Godon Balmer said forecourt staff were being subject to unacceptable abuse from frustrated motorists.

“There are encouraging signs that the crisis at the pumps is easing, with forecourts reporting that they are taking further deliveries of fuel,” he said in a statement.

“However, we are extremely disappointed to hear many forecourt staff are experiencing a high level of both verbal and physical abuse, which is completely unacceptable.”

His warning comes amid reports of fights breaking out on forecourts with, in one case, footage appearing on social media of a man wielding a knife, as tempers boiled over during long waits to fill up.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has suggested offenders who have been given community sentences could be used to address the country’s lack of HGV drivers amid continuing concerns about fuel shortages.

Mr Raab, who was made Justice Secretary in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent ministerial reshuffle, has dismissed Labour’s call for 100,000 migrant visas to be issued to provide sufficient drivers.

The former Foreign Secretary said the move would leave the country reliant in the long term on labour coming from abroad, and instead suggested the gap could be filled in another way.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the petrol shortage crisis. Follow this blog for regular updates on the topic.