Officials at Tunisia’s powerful UGTT labour union say the country has only enough petrol to last a week.

Fuel reserve levels are normally set at 60 days.

Long queues of cars have have been jamming roads in the capital, Tunis, waiting to fill their tanks.

Energy Minister Naila Nouira has denied that the fuel shortage is down to the government’s inability to pay for supplies, insisting instead that many motorists are taking more than they need.

She added that a tanker, full of petrol, is now being unloaded which will give the country several more days’ supply.