The petrol panic coupled with heavy rain brought jams to many of the borough's roads this morning.

Despite pleas from government ministers, local MPs and councillors, motorists queued for hours at many garages through Richmond, Twickenham and the surrounding area over the weekend.

And as the school run began this morning, some petrol stations were closed, such as the Shell on the Staines Road. Others were operating, although only a few pumps had fuel.

Most of the pumps at the Shell station in St Margaret were shut off as cars jostled for a place in the queue for the few that remained open.

Security staff in hi-vis jackets managed the queues at the Tesco petrol station at the superstore near to the Twickenham rugby ground.

Texaco, Esso and BP outlets in the area were open, but operating at reduced capacity.

One Twickenham resident posted video of some of the borough's refuse collectors helping to manage queues at an Esso petrol station at around 6.45am this morning. The bin lorries appeared to have joined the queue to fill-up.

Pictures were posted on social media of cars queueing out onto the A316 at the BP garage on Manor Circus. It was a statement from the head office at BP, which first revealed it was having difficulty making deliveries to some petrol stations at the end of last week because of a shortage of tanker drivers.

On Friday, the leader of Richmond Borough Council, Gareth Roberts, tweeted pictures of queues at the pumps at one Sainsbury's garage forecourt.

In a plea to drivers, he wrote: "If you don't NEED to fill up, DON'T. You could be depriving those with genuine needs & emergencies. If you MUST fill up avoid #Hampton Sainsbury's. Avoid the area in general, traffic now queuing down Uxbridge Rd."

Speaking outside Ham Cross petrol station, Richmond Park MP, Sarah Olney, said: "I just want to say to all constituents, don't rush to the petrol stations because panic buying will cause a shortage.

"It's clear to me as well that the Government has really got to get to grips with the driver shortage urgently."

She added that the rush means that petrol supplies could run out in some locations 'leaving vulnerable people stranded'.