As supermarkets join forces to urge shoppers to exercise restraint when filling their shopping trollies, stores have been full, with queues building before they opened this morning.
Ten major supermarket brands including Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Waitrose & Partners, M&S and Costcutter, has published a statement asking customers to “be considerate in the way they shop”.
The note was published after a fortnight of high demand in stores, with basics such as toilet roll, hand sanitizers and paracetamol constantly selling out.
And, as we reported yesterday, customers have started stripping shelves of other goods, such as baked beans, nappies and teabags.
The surge in demand is a reaction to the coronavirus, and calls from the government for people to self-isolate for seven days if they have a cough or a high temperatures.
The letter from the supermarkets said that they are “working closely with Government and our suppliers to keep food moving quickly through the system” and they are making additional deliveries to stores.
“Those of us with online delivery and click-and-collect services are running them at full capacity to help you get the products you need when you need them,” it adds, thanking staff members for their efforts.
But the supermarkets want help from their customers.
“We would ask everyone to be considerate in the way they shop. We understand your concerns but buying more than is needed can sometimes mean that otherws will be left without.
“There is enough for everyone if we all work together.
“Together we can make sure we are looking out for family, friends, neighbours. Together we will care for those around us and those who are elderly, vulnerable or choosing to remain at home.”
But shoppers don’t appear to be heeding these warnings.
Our photo shows the extent of the queue to get into Aldi before it opened at 10am this morning.
In Woodley, car parks were all full by 10am as shoppers attempted to stock up.
Queues in the Lidl branch in Woodley went well up each of the aisles.
