A WOMAN has set up a Facebook group to encourage "responsible" and "rational" fuel buying.

Sara Ellis, 47, set up the Facebook group Fuel Updates Sussex last Saturday 25 after her employees were unable to get to jobs due to a lack of fuel.

Sara runs an events company called To Have and To Hire Events, she found that members of her team were unable attend several weddings last week.

"I just thought this is not ok, I couldn't bear the idea of someone's special day being ruined. So, I decided to do something about it," said Sara.

The Argus: Woman from Billingshurst dubbed the 'Fuel Fairy' after creating Sussex fuel finding group

The mother-of-three then set up the Facebook group and asked people to post messages of where fuel was available locally.

Within hours, 1,000 people had joined and just days later nearly 20,000 people were informing everyone where they could get petrol and diesel.

She was quickly dubbed the "Fuel Fairy" by members who were grateful for her efforts.

Sara, from near Billingshurst, said: "I don't tolerate any angry or nasty comments and posts, anything not to do with helping people find fuel is deleted.

"Of course some people feel that the group is making the problem worse but I, and the members, disagree as the panic buyers have already struck at this stage.

"Now the people who are queuing and filling up jerry cans are mainly the ones who actually need it! I always say to members to remain calm, you never know what someone else is having to deal with - they could be filling up extra cans out of pure desperation."

Sara has strict instructions for the group members to act responsibly and not "antagonise" each other, something that she said she saw a lot in other local community groups.

The group now has 25,000 members from across Sussex, each can post when and if they find or are looking for fuel.

"We've has so many lovely stories, one man was queuing for an hour when the station he was at closed. He then had to leave his car in the road as he ran out of petrol, he posted it on the group and a fellow member brought him a jerry can to fill up the next morning and accompanied him back to his car," said Sara.

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