MOTORISTS in Worcestershire will not be able to refuel their cars until Sunday at the earliest - but it may take three weeks before the country fully recovers from the petrol crisis.

The news came on the day that Worcester MP Mike Foster warned that someone would die unless the petrol blockades, which he branded as "totally unacceptable", stopped.

The Labour MP said the protest was affecting the most vulnerable.

"Someone will die, and that's an awful price to pay for a protest," said Mr Foster. "Health officials have made it absolutely clear the possible position they're in unless fuel supplies are restored.

"Operations will be cancelled, people who rely on home-help will have their dignity stripped from them, and there will be people who rely on services like meals-on-wheels who will go hungry.

"This is totally and utterly unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue."

Petrol stations across the country have "no idea" when they can expect a delivery of fuel, but staff at Blackpole service station in Worcester hoped to have some by the end of the weekend.

Many taxi services remain available and First Midland Red is operating its regular services.

As the Evening News went to press, unleaded and four-star LRP petrol could still be bought from the M5 services at Frankley, near Bromsgrove.

The northbound services had no diesel and other grades were expected to last until early afternoon. Southbound services were "very low" in diesel, but had enough petrol to last to tomorrow morning.

Late yesterday evening, police moved in to break up the lorry blockade outside the Kingsbury distribution centre in North Warwickshire, which supplies the majority of commercial filling stations in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

But, as officers tried to move the protesters, more than 50 motorcyclists joined the peaceful protest.

Mid Worcestershire's Tory MP Peter Luff has been closely following the fuel crisis in Britain while on a Parliamentary visit to China.

He called for fuel supplies to be allowed out of refineries and depots, but for the Government to take on board the protesters' message.

"If the petrol starts flowing, that's not the end of the problem," he said from Xi'an Airport. "High petrol prices are causing real suffering, particularly in rural communities."

THE re-supply of Britain's fuel stations began last night, hours after Prime Minister Tony Blair said that oil companies had agreed to do everything they could to break the nationwide blockades.

He hoped the fuel situation would be "on the way back to normal" within 24 hours after high-level warnings that the nation faced widespread and severe shortages of all goods.

He again refused to cave in to fuel price protesters and said the Government could not "possibly, responsibly" introduce an emergency budget to alter taxes on fuel.

"We have made the necessary emergency order of council. The oil companies are agreed that they must move supplies."

The Prime Minister said the police had agreed to do "all that is necessary" to protect against intimidation.

"The main union concerned has issued a strong statement urging members to work normally," he told reporters at a press conference in Downing Street.

"Everything is now in place to get the tankers moving."

Across the country, 60 tankers were allowed to travel through the blockades on condition that fuel was for the emergency services.

A West Mercia Police spokesman said that one noticeable result of the fuel crisis had been a drop in the amount of M5 traffic.

During rush hour today, the volume of traffic on the motorway through Worcestershire was only a quarter of its usual level.

The Department of Health said that, although fuel supplies for emergency service vehicles seemed to be at "a reasonable level", the crisis was affecting drug stocks and staff.