People have reported that panic buying has started in Harrow as photos emerge showing bare shelves in supermarkets.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be a holding an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee before revealing his new lockdown plans, likely to be tomorrow evening. As rumours of a second lockdown have surfaced, people have taken to supermarkets to stock up on supplies.
A post on the Harrow Online Group said: “Really!! Have people started panic buying already ? no plain flour, and pasta low in Tesco ?”
One reply said: “Yep! Asda was the worst today in colindale. No hand sanitiser or toilet roll. Actually thats a lie, they had small packs of toilet roll but the big packs were all gone. And the price of the small toilet rolls is so ridiculous! Its only going to get worse after tomorrow?”
Another person commented saying: “Yep. I was just in Tesco. Couldn’t believe not only how much lower the shelves were but the queues at every till. ?”
Andrew Opie, head of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “We urge consumers to be considerate and shop for food as they would usually during this difficult time.”
Another Harrow Online Group member posted: “Think – we are in a different situation compared to that of March. We know a lot more about the virus and we are moving forward in terms of therapeutics. May I ask: People do not panic buy – you are depriving others and depriving families. Think of others and do not be selfish. Help others”.
The news of panic buying comes as the Daily Mail reported that Morrison’s are going to reinstate door marshals to help limit the amount of people allowed in shops at one time.