Coronavirus: Huge queues at Sheffield Tesco stores as supermarkets open early for NHS staff

The city’s Tesco supermarkets have seen NHS workers queuing with trolleys after doctors and nurses complained they were unable to get hold of essential items because of panic buying.

In recent weeks, Britain’s supermarket shelves have been stripped of items like toilet roll, pasta, paracetamol and fresh fruit, vegetables and meat as shoppers stockpile amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a bid to beat the panic buyers, many supermarkets have introduced special shopping hours for frontline NHS staff as well as the elderly and vulnerable.

And the Tesco store on Abbeydale Road saw plenty of staff taking advantage of the special hour by queuing before the store opened its doors.

Morrisons has also introduced a special shopping hour for NHS staff which will begin tomorrow and will run six days a week.

Yesterday, the Government urged people to shop responsibly and think of each other – and were told that there was enough food to go around for everyone, as long as shoppers behave sensibly.

Many stores have also altered their opening hours to allow staff to restock shelves overnight and branches have also limited shoppers to the number of items they can buy.

The move comes after a video of critical care nurse Dawn Bilborough sobbing at being unable to get her shopping at the end of her shift went viral.