Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the Government "had been right" in making the British public aware of the potential dilemma by the fuel strike.
Appearing on BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show, he said the country is better equipped to handle industrial action by tanker drivers due to warnings from ministers in the Coalition.
He added: "Had they not set out the precautions that people should take and alerted people to the situation, then, if the strike took place in the coming weeks, it would be said that they were complacent and hadn't prepared the country."
The Government has recently come under fire for encouraging drivers to stock up on petrol. As a result, car owners flocked to forecourts all over the country, forcing some petrol station operators to ration fuel.
But Mr Hague argued that ministers were right to flag up the threat to fuel supplies. He said: "I think my colleagues have done absolutely the right thing to urge people to take sensible precautions and I think they will be vindicated by events over the coming days."
Trade union Unite has announced that there will be no strike action until after the Easter weekend and added that it is due to have a peaceful discussion at Acas, a conciliation service which helps to prevent disputes in the workplace.
Copyright Press Association 2012
