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Retail & Consumer

'Don't panic buy' supermarkets urge customers - as images of empty shelves emerge amid 'pingdemic'

The 'pingdemic', the shortage of HGV drivers and the hot weather have all contributed to delivery glitches

Empty milk shelves at Sainsbury's in Clapham Common on Thursday

Some of the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ's biggest supermarket chains have urged customers not to panic buy amid the "pingdemic" after pictures of empty shelves appeared on social media.

Iceland, Co-op and Sainsbury's bosses said they are continuing to receive regular deliveries - and that there is no need for customers to change their shopping habits.

With images posted widely on social media, the supermarkets described any shortages as "patchy", adding that gaps on the shelves were "temporary" as they awaited deliveries, and were occurring in pockets rather than across supply chains.

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The "pingdemic", the shortage of HGV drivers and the hot weather were all contributing to delivery glitches, grocers said, while stressing to consumers that panic buying would create a problem that did not exist, as PA reports.

This morning, it was revealed that a record 618,903 alerts had been sent to users of the Covid-19 app in the week to July 14, telling them to self-isolate.

A Co-op spokesman said: "We are sorry that we are running low on some products. Like many retailers, we are impacted by some patchy disruption to our deliveries and store operations but we are working closely with our suppliers to get re-stocked quickly."