AFP - Greece's government requisitioned Wednesday truckers who have been on strike for three days at the height of the busy tourism season, in a bid to deal with a nationwide fuel crisis.

After a transport ministry report, Greek Prime Minister Georges Papandreou decided to requisition the truckers "to avoid negative repercussions" from the strike, a statement from the government spokesman's office said.

The strike "has caused serious disruption to economic and social life" as well as posing "significant problems for public health, due to the lack of food supplies and medicine," and "threatens public order," the statement said.

The government's decision came a few hours after the transport ministry's secretary general Harris Tsiokas said his meeting with the truckers' union ended in a "stalemate".

The transport ministry and union leaders had met in a bid to break the deadlock which began over plans to liberalise the freight sector.

"We will not stop talks but we can not leave the country in a state of paralysis," Tsiokas said after the meeting.

Fuel has run out in all but a few of the capital's petrol stations and shortages are already reported in many major cities.

The truckers say that opening the freight sector by reducing new licence charges is unfair to existing operators who have already paid high start-up fees running up to 300,000 euros (390,000 dollars).

"The state sold us these licences, so the state should compensate us," the head of the truckers' union George Tsamos told Flash Radio.

The protest has had a major impact on the country's tourism season which is vital to the Greek economy as it battles an unprecedented financial crisis.

Hoteliers on Wednesday said they were already facing cancellations from vacationers unwilling to risk the journey until the protest ends.

"We have started receiving an important number of cancellations," said Nikos Papalexis, the head of the Achaia hoteliers union in the northwestern Peloponnese peninsula.

"If this situation continues, a lot of hotels will have to dismiss staff or even shut down," he told state television NET.

The Association for Greek Tourist Enterprises said the situation was "disastrous for the country and the economy," after the strike last week by air traffic controllers.