French petrol distributors have urged the government to release emergency fuel stocks panic buying has broken out in some areas, putting supplies under greater strain.

French petrol distributors have urged the government to release emergency fuel stocks following strikes that have blocked most French oil refineries.The firms have also called for action to remove protesters blocking fuel depots.Eleven of France's 12 mainland refineries have been affected by the stoppages and protests.
Unions have been organising protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy's bid to raise the retirement age.
The distributors warned that unless action was taken there would be petrol shortages across the country.
Jean-Louis Schilansky, head of the suppliers' federation, said that on average they had about 10 days of supplies left in depots."We ask permission to dip into the reserve stocks available to distributors, to support customers beyond these 10 days," he said.He also asked for the government to "unblock the depots which protesters are preventing from working".Correspondents say France's strategic reserve consists of 17 million tonnes of refined fuel products and crude oil - the equivalent of 98.5 days of normal consumption.
Government officials have tried to play down fears of fuel shortages, insisting that France has enough fuel to see out the action.However, panic buying has broken out in some areas, putting supplies under greater strain.