CAST your mind back to the summer of 2000 and massive queues at petrol stations across East Lancashire.

Cars went around the block as panicking drivers, sometimes getting into fights, queued for miles to fill up.

The petrol crisis was caused following nationwide pickets and blockades, including one at Shell’s giant oil refinery in Cheshire, which supplies Lancashire and the North West.

But yesterday there were no blockades or mass demos by hauliers or farmers – the cause was MPs who whipped up a national panic.

Unlike 12 years ago when the crisis was sparked by the rising cost of fuel, this row is about health and safety issues and pensions.

So the suggestion by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude for people to store petrol in a ‘jerry can in the garage’ was misguided at best or idiotic at worst.

The moment the words ‘store petrol’ are used in a sentence, the public will naturally panic.

What most people do not realise is that if a strike went ahead, it would not affect every forecourt as only drivers from five companies, including Shell, Esso, Tesco, BP and Sainsbury, voted in favour of strike action.

Therefore it is vital people make sure they are fully informed about the facts before rushing to the nearest petrol station.

Otherwise we will see a repeat of the chaotic scenes which caused misery for millions of people.