TESCO has introduced new limits on some items, including toilet roll and baby wipes, to prevent shoppers from panic buying.

The supermarket is the latest to introduce rationing in stores following Morrisons yesterday, which has put a three item limit on a small number of products such as toilet roll and disinfectant.

There will be a limit of three items per person on five different products at Tesco: flour, dried pasta, toilet roll, baby wipes and anti-bacterial wipes

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We have good availability, with plenty of stock to go round, and we would encourage our customers to shop as normal.

"To ensure that everyone can keep buying what they need, we have introduced bulk-buy limits on a small number of products.

“To help our customers shop safely, we will also have colleagues at the entrances of our larger stores to remind customers about the safety measures we have in place, including the legal requirement to wear a face covering.”

Tesco will also add further limits to a small number of items online such as rice and canned veg.

There are already some online restrictions, with limits on the number of face coverings, eggs, flour, and anti-bacterial products people can but which have been in place for some time.

Tesco store managers have the power to limit items in stores locally if needed and a sign was spotted yesterday limiting toilet roll to one per customer at a branch in Cambridgeshire.

Morrisons became the UK's first supermarket chain to bring back rationing on some products – despite there being plenty of stock.

The supermarket has rationed essentials such as toilet roll because shoppers are unnecessarily panic buying.

There is a limit of three per person on some items according to ITV news.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: "We are introducing a limit on a small number of key products, such as toilet roll and disinfectant.

"Our stock levels of these products are good but we want to ensure that they are available for everyone."  

Supermarket bosses have spent the week urging shoppers not to panic buy and reassuring customers that there is plenty to go round.

Panic buying "unecessary"

The boss of Tesco Dave Lewis has said there's no need to hoard goods as new lockdown measures don't affect the supply chain.

He told Sky News earlier this week: "The message would be one of reassurance. I think the UK saw how well the food industry managed last time, so there's very good supplies of food.

"We just don't want to see a return to unnecessary panic buying because that creates a tension in the supply chain that's not necessary.

"And therefore we would just encourage customers to continue to buy as normal."

One Iceland store in West Worthing was forced to put up handwritten notes stopping people from bulk buying toilet roll and kitchen roll.

The supermarket said it was "strictly a local initiative" and not a company wide policy.

A spokesperson for the retailer said: "We have seen a modest increase in demand for paper products in the last few days but there is no evidence of panic buying in our stores and there is plenty of stock in the system."

Panic buying at the start of the pandemic left shelves empty of essentials like toilet roll, pasta and flour.

Shop normally

Research from March found that the empty shelves wasn't caused by a handful of shoppers buying excessively, but more a case of everyone putting one extra of everything in their basket.

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium, said: "Since March, retail businesses have strengthened their supply chains as well as investing hundreds of millions to make stores safe and secure for customers; this includes perspex screens, social distancing measures and additional hygiene measures.

"As such, retail remains a safe space for consumers, even under future lockdowns.

“Supply chains are stronger than ever before and we do not anticipate any issues in the availability of food or other goods under any future lockdown.

"Nonetheless, we urge consumers to be considerate of others and shop as they normally would."

The boss of Aldi has urged shoppers not to panic buy amid fears that supermarkets will run out of stock and asked shoppers to buy considerately.

Shoppers are urging supermarkets to start putting limits on popular items amid fears of panic buying.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak today announced a raft of new support for jobs and the economy as coronavirus cases rise.

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