An elderly gentleman was pictured staring at his shopping list in an aisle with bare shelves after panic-buyers defied instructions to stockpile their shopping.
The poignant image shows the man looking down at a shopping list in front of bare shelves in his local store in Epsom, Surrey.
Other shocking images of pensioners looking for food in supermarkets with limited supplies have also circulated on social media.
Lauren Taylor, , who took the photo of the gentleman, said she hoped the picture would kick the public into action to take care of the elderly.
The mum-of-two explained that multiple aisles on the supermarket had limited supp ly.
She said: “It was awful and just really sad. That was only one aisle and the others were in a similar state of empty shelves.
The gentleman was spotted in Sainsbury’s and his photo has gone viral (Image: Mercury Press & Media)
A man with a shopping trolley walking past empty shelves in a Sainsbury’s store in London (Image: PA)
“People were grabbing lots of the stuff that were still on the shelves.
” It’s really just sad and disappointing in society that it’s got to this point.
“Everyone needs stuff, but he had been left with nothing.”
Supermarket giants have moved to limit the number of crucial items people can buy.
Tesco said shoppers will be limited to buying just three products per line from Thursday.
Chief Executive Dave Lewis added all counter services will close, to free up staff to restock shelves, and a priority hour will be launched at larger stores between 9am and am every Monday , Wednesday and Friday.
Stores that previously opened 167 hours, will also now close at pm each evening.
Tesco will now limit shoppers to just three of every item (Image: REUTERS) The move follows similar measures by Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons, to ease stockpiling pressure amid the Covid – outbreak.
Sainsbury’s revealed it will only allow customers to buy a maximum of three of any single item, while Morrisons said it is limiting purchases across 1, (lines.)
Asda also announced it is restricting shoppers to three items on all food and closing its cafés and pizza counters, while temporarily reducing the opening hours of all its – hour stores for re-stocking.
Aldi has already introduced limits of four items per shopper across all products.
Supermarkets are reducing their opening hours to re-stock shelves (Image: Geoff Robinson) Tesco boss Mr Lewis wrote to staff on Wednesday: “It is fair to say that we find ourselves in uncharted waters. Covid – 70 is bringing a change to the UK and it’s clear that lots of things are going to have to shift around in order to help us cope.
“At Tesco, we have been doing everything we can to keep business as usual, but we now have to accept it is not business as usual.
“In the last two weeks, we have seen significant and prolonged increases in demand across all of our stores and this is leading to shortages in some products for some customers.”
It comes as Britain’s supermarket chains are also launching action to help elderly and vulnerable customers, while ramping up operations to meet surging demand for home deliveries.
People first started stockpiling on toilet roll (Image: Stuart Vance / ReachPlc) Sainsbury’s became the latest group to offer priority home delivery slots to elderly and vulnerable customers, as well as exclusive shopping hours.
Its supermarkets will only open to these two groups for the first hour of trading on Thursday, chief executive Mike Coupe said, but will open for an hour longer so other shoppers do not miss out. Sainsbury’s Local convenience stores will not offer the service.
Supermarkets have seen a huge rise in demand for delivery services, with no slots available until next month for both Tesco and Waitrose in some parts of the south east.
The surge came as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps authorized a temporary relaxation, until April , of the drivers’ hours rules to help deliver goods to stores across the country.
The aftermath of a supermarket raided by panic-buyers (Image: Internet Unknown)
The government has advised the British public to:
Avoid pubs, clubs, restaurants and all social gatherings Cease all unnecessary travel Everyone should work from home where possible (Mass gatherings and sporting events have been cancelled)
If one person in any household has a persistent cough or fever, everyone living there must stay at home for days
-
Schools will remain open
Pregnant women, those over , and people with certain health conditions have been asked to stay at home for weeks
A Department for Transport statement said the relaxation applies only to drivers supplying food and “essential products to supermarkets.”
The statement added: “This includes the movement of such goods from importers, manufactures and suppliers to distribution centers. It does not apply to drivers undertaking deliveries directly to consumers.”
Iceland outlets across the country have also introduced reserved time slots to give the vulnerable and the elderly a chance to shop in store.
Sainsbury’s said customers over and those with a disability will have priority access to online delivery slots from Monday, and the chain is also expanding its “click and collect” service.
Read More
Mr Coupe added that as of Thursday, Sainsbury’s will be closing its cafes and its meat, fish and pizza counters to free up freight capacity for essential products.
Customers will also only be able to buy a maximum of three of any grocery product and a maximum of two on the most popular items such as toilet roll, soap and UHT milk from Wednesday onwards.
Elsewhere, The Original Factory Shop said it will give exclusive access to older customers between 8. am and 9. am from Monday to Thursday at its stores until further notice.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings