LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is looking at temporary measures to alleviate an acute shortage of truckers, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said on Friday, to smooth disruption to food and petrol supplies which retailers have warned could impact Christmas.

The retail sector in Britain has warned that the government must address the problem of HGV drivers running out within the next 10 days or significant disruptions will occur in the lead-up to Christmas.

“We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid any immediate problems, but any measures we introduce will be very strictly time limited,” a spokeswoman for Johnson’s Downing Street office said in a statement.

Downing Street didn’t give details about the proposed measures. According to the trucking industry, the government should allow international drivers short-term visas in order to bridge the gap.

As the world’s fifth-largest economy emerges from COVID-19 lockdowns, a spike in European prices and a post-Brexit shortage of truck drivers have left Britain grappling with soaring energy prices and a potential food supply crunch.

BP (NYSE?:) had some stations closed due to driver shortages. Queues formed at Shell stations (LON:), as some stations ran out of gas. ExxonMobil’s Esso reported that a limited number of 200 Tesco Alliance retail stores had suffered some form of damage.

While the government tried to calm the nation about fuel supply, it claimed that Brexit has not caused the shortage of drivers. Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic had hindered new driver training and testing.

According to the spokesperson, “We have plenty of fuel stock in this country so the public should be assured there is no shortage.”

We are experiencing a COVID-related shortfall in drivers to transport supplies across the country, just like other countries.