Tesco has joined other supermarkets in restricting the number of items customers can buy in a bid to stem coronavirus panic buying.
Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket, will allow customers to buy a maximum of three of any kind of product from Thursday, March 19.
The move is an escalation of action taken by Sainsbury’s this week to stop customers from taking more than three items in particular aisles, such as toilet roll.
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Other supermarkets like Iceland have introduced a time slot for the over 70s and the vulnerable to shop before the rest of the public to ensure they get the food and supplies they need.
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In Ipswich, the Copdock Tesco car park was two-thirds full when it reopened at 6am this morning – having decided to close at 11pm the previous evening to restock shelves depleted by people stocking up.
Tesco at Martlesham took the same measures and closed overnight.
Usually open 24 hours a day, staff had closed the store at 11pm the previous night to so shelves could be restocked.
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A large number of staff monitored customers’ behaviour and were heard pleading with customers not to take more than they needed.
Asda and Sainsbury’s have both closed their cafes nationwide to redeploy staff in other areas.
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