LONDON: The British government has extended an emergency visa program for truck drivers as fuel shortages showed few signs of abating Saturday, particularly in London and the southeast of England.
In an announcement late on Friday, the government said temporary visas for nearly 5,000 foreign truck drivers it hopes to recruit would run until the end of February instead of expire on Christmas Eve as originally planned.
The short duration of the program announced last week drew widespread criticism for not being attractive enough to entice foreign drivers.
The government said 300 fuel drivers would be able to come to the UK from overseas “immediately” and stay until March. Some 4,700 other visas intended for foreign food truck drivers will last from late October to the end of February.
