Government insist ‘no danger of food shortage’ as UK coronavirus death toll reaches 137

George Eustice told MPs there is "significant resilience" in the supply chain and efforts are continuing to assess potential changes to competition law to enable retailers and haulage companies to work together.

Speaking at Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions, Mr Eustice said: "There isn't a shortage of food; the challenge that we've had is getting food to shelves in time when people have been purchasing more.

"That's why we have taken steps including setting aside delivery curfews so that lorries can run around the clock, relaxing driver hours to ensure the deliveries can take place more frequently, and we are in discussions with other Government colleagues in MHCLG (the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) around other support that we would deliver locally to get food to those who are self-isolating."

In Sheffield, a video emerged showing a queue of shoppers snaking around a Tesco store while they waited for the doors to open this morning.

Mr Eustice also said food banks would not go without supplies.

He told MPs: “I've been in regular, daily calls with the food supply sector that included discussions around food banks and we are in dialogue with supermarkets to ensure we can make sure they get access to the supplies that they need."

“We are also, in Government, working on specific proposals to help the most vulnerable, those with clinical problems, to ensure that we can get food to them, should they be self-isolating."

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