Brittany fuel shortages are spreading, map shows

As this map organised by local Breton newspaper Le Télégramme shows, most of the petrol stations in the region have run out of all or some kinds of fuel (red indicates no fuel, orange indicates only certain kinds, and black means the station still has fuel).

Some of them have therefore closed temporarily.

However as another map shows at penurie.mon-essence.fr the shortages are spreading, though still especially focussed on the west of France. The Pays-de-la-Loire is most affected after Brittany.

Both maps are being updated from user contributions as the situation develops.

In Ile-et-Vilaine the prefect has requisitioned 11 service stations for use by emergency vehicles and also banned the sale of fuel in jerricans.

The problems are due to protests since Friday last week by construction firms over plans to remove a tax break which makes diesel used for machines and site vehicles on building sites cheaper than ordinary fuel.

Firms have been using work vehicles to block five fuel depots that stock petrol and diesel for distribution to the west of France so that fuel tankers cannot get in and out; this morning however gendarmes took action this morning to reopen access to a depot in Rennes.

The government plans to remove the tax break in three phases from July 1, 2019 to 2022.

The leader of a national body representing tradespeople in public works and landscaping told FranceInfo the plan would hit smaller firms especially badly and could mean loss of up to 10% of their turnover, making them unprofitable.

A meeting was held with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire yesterday but the government has so far stuck to its timetable. The industry had asked for 10 years to allow a transition to machines using alternative fuel.

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French construction companies blockade fuel depots