In the midst of empty shelves and panic buying some 24 hours branches of Tesco are reportedly set to close early to help staff restock.

Staff at some branches including Martlesham Heath and Great Notley in Braintree have reportedly told customers that the stores will now be closing at 10pm in order to allow staff to refill shelves.

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Recent weeks have seen customers panic buy a number of items including toilet roll, pasta and hand sanitiser.

Tesco was one of several supermarkets to issue a statement earlier this week asking people to behave sensibly when it came to stocking up and to help others.

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