| Good evening It looks like we are going to be facing a tricky winter ahead. We know heating costs are going to rise; most of us will have already seen our shopping bills go up and now we are facing a struggle to get fuel for our cars. It seems like there is a perfect storm brewing from the effects of the pandemic as economies across the world start to reopen. Here in the UK, whoever would have thought there would be a shortage of lorry drivers - the cause of the lack of fuel on forecourts and of some items in the shops. Anyone who has ever driven on a motorway will think that is impossible - but the return of European drivers to their native lands after Brexit and delays in HGV driving tests because of Covid restrictions has meant this is now the case. While it may be a temporary problem, we are going into one of the busiest periods for retail and leisure in the run-up to Christmas. So the Government needs to press the accelerator on getting HGV drivers through the system and the rest of us must avoid panic buying as that will only make things worse. Until next time, take care, Gillian Drop me a line at gillian.parkinson@jpimedia.co.uk with your views and please subscribe to support sustainable local journalism in your community. Click here to view our offers. Here are some more top stories on lep.co.uk ... | 
