Astonishing images show hundreds of shoppers queueing around a Tesco car park at 6am in a bid to purchase lockdown supplies.
This is despite officials stressing there is no need to panic buy or stockpile – and that it means those most in need cannot get their essentials.
The queue stretched the entire length of the Tesco car park in New Malden, south-west London this morning.
Drone footage taken at 6am shows shoppers patiently waiting in line for the superstore to open.
The queue is so long some shoppers are waiting near to the entrance and exit of the car park on the roadside.
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And in another Tesco Extra in Hampton, Peterborough, shelves had already cleared by 6am this morning.
It comes after Tesco announced a three per person limit on all items as part of latest efforts to curb panic-buying.
The restrictions were imposed on Thursday but at this stage has done little to cope with the high demand.
Many shoppers visiting supermarkets in the afternoon or evening have been greeted with empty shelves, with most meat, including chicken, turkey and beef sold out.
Items such as frozen vegetables, crisps, squash, fresh milk, pasta and rice are also proving hard to get hold of, as are most tinned foods, such as pasta sauces.
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Overnight three people were arrested in the Essex area for a suspected theft of toilet roll.
Police were called to the Tesco superstore in New Malden on Friday after tensions among shoppers increased, with many ransacking shelves and paying little attention to pensioners.
In a letter to staff, Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis wrote that all counter services will be closed to focus on stocking shelves from Thursday.
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Lewis said the chain will encourage healthy shoppers to come to stores and free up online capacity, and make 9am to 10am an hour prioritised to vulnerable and elderly customers.
He added: "It is fair to say that we find ourselves in uncharted waters. Covid-19 is bringing a change to the UK and it's clear that lots of things are going to have to shift around in order to help us cope."
A Tesco spokesperson added: "We are changing these store hours to ensure we can serve customers better at this time.
"It gives our colleagues the time overnight to restock the store, replenish the shelves and support our online grocery service at a time when demand is high."
In a bid to cope with demand, Tesco is advertising thousands of jobs as the stockpiling shows little sign of slowing down.
Around 20,000 people are thought to be be wanted by the superstore, so stores can cope with the "unprecedented" demand.
It comes after critical care nurse Dawn Bilbrough, from York, made a heartfelt plea for shoppers to stop stockpiling, in a video which circulated on social media on Thursday.
In the video, she is seen crying after visiting a supermarket following a 48-hour hospital shift to find there were no fruit or vegetables.
As thousands of customers stockpiled on products in a panic-buying frenzy, many were left facing empty shelves at the supermarkets.
Tesco and Marks & Spencer have already announced they are giving health and social care workers priority shopping times.
Sainsbury's is also consolidating its opening hours from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, in order to be able focus on restocking shelves.
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