Downing Street today urged the public not to panic buy petrol as a threatened four-day strike by tanker drivers nears.

Gordon Brown's spokesman urged both sides in the strike to reach a resolution, to prevent petrol stations starting to run out of fuel from the weekend.

Hundreds of drivers who supply fuel to almost 1,000 Shell garages as well as factories and some smaller airports are due to walk out at 6am on Friday after talks to resolve their pay dispute broke down.

About 600 tanker drivers employed by haulage companies Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport are threatening a four-day walkout after their claim for a 13 per cent pay rise was rejected. The garages they supply are mainly in the South East, the Midlands and the North West of England, and in central Scotland.

The haulage companies have offered to raise drivers' annual average salaries, currently £36,500, by 6.5 per cent to £39,000. Hoyer says that it has already increased pay by 27 per cent in the last four years, and that it is "disappointed" by the reaction of Unite, the drivers' union.

The union says that the £36,500 average salary includes a lot of overtime, and accuses Shell of putting pressure on the haulage companies to keep pay down.

The Government believes there are no grounds to justify strike action and fears such a move would have a disproportionate impact on ordinary people wishing to conduct their daily lives and businesses," a spokesman said.