SHOPPERS are being told not to panic buy as empty supermarket shelves continued to greet customers in Falmouth at the weekend.

Shelves at Sainsbury's were half empty on Saturday with staff expecting deliveries that afternoon, although it is a 'lottery' as to what those deliveries will contain, one staff member said.

Falmouth Packet:

Staff said the problem was with HGV drivers being 'pinged'. Shoppers found there was a distinct shortage of tinned tomatoes, beer, flour, coffee, oil, rice and most worryingly beer.

The shortage of HGV drivers is not only being put down to them being 'pinged' by their Covid apps but also down to the fact that thousands of EU drivers left the UK at Christmas after Brexit and did not return.

Falmouth Packet:

Retailers say they are under “increasing pressure” to keep shelves fully stocked amid staff shortages, industry bosses have warned.

At the start of the pandemic last March shoppers began to stockpile which meant many struggled to get hold of essential items and now supermarket bosses have moved to avoid a similar situation.

Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said staff in stores and suppliers should be allowed to work even if they get an alert to self-isolate.

Falmouth Packet:

“The ongoing ‘pingdemic’ is putting increasing pressure on retailers’ ability to maintain opening hours and keep shelves stocked,” he said.

“Government needs to act fast. Retail workers and suppliers, who have played a vital role throughout this pandemic, should be allowed to work provided they are double vaccinated or can show a negative Covid test, to ensure there is no disruption to the public’s ability to get food and other goods.

“With community cases soaring, the number of healthy retail staff having to self-isolate is rising fast, disrupting retail operations.”

Food industry bosses also warned that supply chains are “starting to fail” because of workers isolating over coronavirus contacts.

The UK’s biggest supermarkets described any shortages as “patchy” across stores but said there was no need for customers to change their shopping habits.

Falmouth Packet:

They said any gaps on the shelves were temporary as they awaited deliveries, and were occurring in pockets rather than across supply chains.

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “We are working hard to ensure customers can find what they need.

“While we might not always have the exact product a customer is looking for in every store, large quantities of products are being delivered to stores daily and our colleagues are focused on getting them on to the shelves as quickly as they can.”

Budget supermarket chain Lidl joined Sainsbury’ in expressing concerns.

"Like all other retailers, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult as we have more and more colleagues having to self-isolate after being notified by the Track and Trace system," it said in a statement.

Falmouth Packet:

"Whilst this is starting to have an impact on our operations, our teams are working hard to minimise any disruption to customers."

Iceland managing director Richard Walker has said staff absence rates are now double the usual number, with the figure rising 50% “week on week” due to people being told to self-isolate by the NHS app.

Mr Walker told the Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve now got over 1,000 staff off, who’ve been pinged. That’s double the normal rates, and it’s rising at 50% week on week.

“Our big concern is that we’ve kept all of our shops open throughout the pandemic, but now we have had to close one or two shops and reduce hours in others.

“But that could get a lot worse a lot quicker, unless the country’s system is sorted out.”

Mr Walker urged shoppers not to panic buy, saying: “There is certainly no problem with supply of stock.

“Panic-buying is only an option for those who can afford it and it often means that others go without.”