Hundreds of fuel tanker drivers will walk out at 6am tomorrow, prompting fears of mass petrol shortages, after last-ditch talks to prevent a four-day strike over pay faltered.
Despite more than nine hours of talks today to try to break the deadlock, on top of 10 hours of negotiations yesterday, the Unite union announced that discussions had broken down and the strike would go ahead.
Unite leaders were in discussions with managers from two companies working on Shell delivery contracts in a bid to resolve the dispute, but had struggled to find a resolution.
Hoyer and Suckling Transport said they put two offers to the union: a 7.3% increase for this year, backdated to January 1, which would take average earnings to over £39,000; and a further 6% increase from January 1 2009, which would take earnings to around £41,500.
The firms said they asked Unite to suspend the strike and put the offers to a ballot but said the union refused. A spokesman for the companies, Bernie Holloway, said: "We offered a substantial amount to the drivers. We extended our offer to the very limits that our business could sustain.
"We are disappointed that our improved offers have been rejected. Unfortunately, it looks likely now that there will be a damaging and costly strike."
Len McCluskey, the assistant general secretary of Unite, said he was
"extremely disappointed" the talks had broken down and accused Shell of not intervening in the dispute.
"This dispute could have been resolved if Shell had advanced a fraction of the billions of pounds in profit they make every month.
"One of the world's richest companies is prepared to play Pontius Pilate and see the British public inconvenienced rather than settle this dispute for a sum smaller than the chairman's pay increase last year."
A spokesman for Shell said: "Shell is not involved in the pay negotiations between the haulage companies and the union. We urge both parties to continue talking to find a resolution.
"Our primary concern is for motorists who may suffer inconvenience as a result of Unite's imminent industrial action.
"If the industrial action goes ahead, regrettably, it is inevitable that it will have a significant impact on our petrol stations.
"In the meantime, we have teams of people working to ensure contingency plans are in place and disruption to our customers is minimised as much as possible."
Gordon Brown had claimed earlier today that a deal to avert a strike was within reach, amid reports of panic buying at the pumps. He appealed for both sides to focus "all efforts" on making sure the talks were successful.
Brown refused to rule out calling in the army to keep fuel flowing - warning that the government was willing to do "everything we can" to stop petrol pumps running dry.
At his regular press conference in Downing Street, Brown said: "I believe that there is a way forward on this and I believe that all people's efforts should be over the next 24 hours to making sure that an agreement is possible."
Car drivers in some parts of the country have already started to panic-buy despite pleas to fill up cars as normal. Queues have been reported in a number of places including, Liverpool, north Wales and Cambridgeshire.
Some people admitted they were topping up half-full petrol tanks, even though this could lead to fuel shortages.
Ten hours of talks between Unite and the Shell companies, under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas, ended in deadlock last night. The two sides resumed direct talks at 8.30am without the involvement of Acas.
One in 10 of Britain's 9,500 filling stations could be hit if the strike goes ahead. The government has drawn up contingency plans, allowing suppliers to share information about stocks without falling foul of competition laws.
