The UK’s biggest breakdown service companies have reported a surge in calls from drivers that have ran out of fuel.

The AA said the number of call-outs where drivers had run out of fuel rose by 600 per cent during the first weekend of the crisis.

RAC spokesperson, Simon Williams said: “We’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of our members who have broken down as a result of running out of fuel, and last Monday alone we attended twice as many drivers in a single day for this problem than we would normally see over a whole week.”

Green Flag published a warning on its website stating it may only be able to help customers if the driver is ‘vulnerable’ or in a dangerous location as it struggled to cope with demand.

Related: One in two drivers affected by fuel supply problems

The Green Flag website also warned: “We don’t have any special access to fuel…. Unfortunately if you break down there could be a delay in our technician getting to you.”

Motorists have been warned that they could be fined £100 and handed three penalty points if a shortage of fuel causes a dangerous obstruction on the road.

Edmund King, AA president, said the firm was “seeing daily improvements”.