Hundreds of shoppers line up outside supermarkets before doors open

The Environment Secretary today insisted there was a ‘significant resilience in our food supply chain’ and told shoppers there is not a shortage of food across the UK. 

George Eustice told MPs that the government was in talks to relax competition laws among supermarkets, and appeared to confirm that shop workers’ children could still go to school even after many are closed down from tomorrow. 

He told the Commons measures taken so far include setting aside aside delivery curfews so that lorries can run around the clock and relaxing driver hours to ensure the deliveries can take place more frequently.  

Mr Eustice added: ‘We are also, in Government, working on specific proposals to help the most vulnerable, those with clinical problems, to ensure that we can get food to them, should they be self-isolating.’

But he ruled out enforcing social distancing measures in supermarkets.  

This comes as hundreds of shoppers were seen lined up outside supermarkets before the doors opened today after retailers enforced strict rationing measures to deal with a surge in panic-buying. 

Overnight, there were an increase in coronavirus cases across the country, with 104 deaths and London facing a possible lockdown. 

Speaking at Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions, Mr Eustice said: ‘There isn’t a shortage of food; the challenge that we’ve had is getting food to shelves in time when people have been purchasing more. 

‘That’s why we have taken steps including setting aside delivery curfews so that lorries can run around the clock, relaxing driver hours to ensure the deliveries can take place more frequently and we are in discussions with other Government colleagues in MHCLG around other support that we would deliver locally to get food to those who are self isolating.’

He added he was in ‘daily’ talks about food banks and helping families in food poverty, who are now facing an ‘immediate emergency.’

He said: ‘We are also, in Government, working on specific proposals to help the most vulnerable, those with clinical problems, to ensure that we can get food to them, should they be self-isolating.’

Shadow local government minister Jim McMahon said supermarket workers had ‘shown themselves to be the heroes of retail, making sure that people get fed and get the food that they need’, and urged MPs to ensure retail staff were on a list of key workers so they could continue to work if they have children of school age.

Mr Eustice added: ‘Later today, the Government will be announcing those jobs defined as key workers.

‘But I can assure him we fully recognise that over 25% of staff generally working in the food supply chain have children of school age, that’s recognised and something that will be reflected when that list is published.’

But Labour’s Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) warned: ‘Supermarket queues are undoubtedly adding to the spread of the coronavirus, not least because of a lack of social distancing.’

He also accused ministers of lacking urgency in their response, adding: ‘People need to see a much greater sense of urgency. This needs to be tackled to prevent the spread within supermarkets.

‘Will he today, with Cabinet colleagues, implement and enforce social distancing in supermarkets to reduce the spread in that part of society?’

Mr Eustice replied in the Commons: ‘We will not do that measure. It was something that was done in Italy, with a restriction on the number of people in stores and what they found was they just had hundreds of people huddled together at the entrance to the store and it’s counterproductive.’

Retailers have also stressed there is plenty of food in the supply chain but shoppers need to act responsibly to ensure everyone can get what they need, particularly the most vulnerable who may find regular shopping difficult. 

Tesco and Sainsbury’s are limiting customers to only buying three or any grocery item, while Asda and Morrisons are restricting purchases across 1,250 regularly-bought lines. 

Britain’s biggest online-only supermarket, Ocado, has stopped new customers from signing up as the business is overwhelmed by orders from people staying indoors to avoid the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, several supermarkets have introduced shopping hours exclusively for the elderly at the start of the day. 

The biggest chains were dramatically stepping up rationing measures yesterday amid the stockpiling as millions prepare for weeks of home quarantine. 

The demand has also led to angry scenes as people battled over household essentials.

Stores are imposing strict limits on the purchase of essentials from baby formula and nappies to paracetamol, hand sanitisers, cleaning products, tinned food, long life milk, pasta and toilet rolls.

And, yesterday, the country’s biggest supermarkets, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, went much further with new limits of three items across all food and grocery products.

It came as Ocado last night shut down its website and app after being swamped with orders. 

Customers will not be able to book a new delivery or edit existing orders until Saturday, at the earliest.

Supermarkets have held emergency talks with police forces to ensure urgent help amid concerns that aggressive shoppers have left staff in tears and fearing for their safety. 

The incidents raise worries the country could see the emergence of food riots that were controversially predicted at the beginning of the crisis.

Waitrose has set a maximum cap of between two and 12 items across as many as 400 products. 

And Morrisons, which has seen a 15 per cent rise in sales in the past two weeks, is putting a cap on purchases across 1,200 products. 

These include a limit of four per customer for packs of baby milk formula.

Similar restrictions are being imposed by other retailers. Aldi is not allowing people to buy more than four of any product line.

Restrictions are also being applied to online orders amid a surge in demand for home deliveries. 

The rush to buy provisions online means some firms do not have delivery slots available for up to six weeks.

The British Retail Consortium said stores were talking to the police about how to cope with any violence. 

Its director of food and sustainability, Andrew Opie, said: ‘Retailers are well versed in providing effective security measures. We will continue to work with police to protect customers and employees.’

The extension of rationing is part of a much wider effort by the supermarkets to ensure they maintain the nation’s food supplies.

For example, Tesco and Asda are ending 24 hour opening at hundreds of outlets to allow staff time to re-stock shelves through the night. 

And some, such as Iceland, are setting aside one hour at the beginning of the day for older customers, who fear contamination, to shop in peace without any pushing and shoving.

The proportion of Britons who admit to hoarding essentials has risen from one in ten to one in four over the past two weeks.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe, said: ‘We have enough food coming into the system, but are limiting sales so that it stays on shelves for longer and can be bought by a larger numbers of customers.’

In other safety measures, supermarkets are asking customers to stop using cash, which can carry the virus, and pay by card or smartphone to protect staff at the tills.