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North East stocks up in snow

The cold snap hitting the country is causing a rush on essential supplies in North East shops.

Stocks of de-icer, shovels, fleece blankets and thermals are running low as people panic buy from stores.

Snow up to eight inches deep has accumulated in Northumberland, County Durham and North Yorkshire over recent weeks making driving conditions atrocious.

Across the region, shoppers are buying their way through the winter weather – packing thermals, anti-freeze and even cat litter into their trolleys.

The rush for table salt – used to clear ice from frozen driveways – is continuing as customers bulk up on essentials so they don’t have to make repeated shopping trips in the arctic conditions.

A spokesman from Sainsbury’s in Silksworth, Sunderland, said: “People are buying in more volume because they’re not coming out as often. They’re bulking up, instead of buying one sugar they would buy two.”

He added: “We have seen a rise in sales for long life products and soups.”

Asda at the Galleries, in Washington, said: “Wellington boots, take away meals, anti-freeze and thermal underwear are flying off the shelves and strangely cat litter too, because it helps clear the ice.”

The so-called ‘panic buying’ was predicted by Sainsbury’s weather analyst, David Bailey, who said: “We know shoppers buying habits change according to the weather – a temperature change of three degrees from the seasonal average can result in sales of some products going up as much as 50%.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .