An Edinburgh Iceland worker has told how his store is "running low on everything" and warned UK shoppers to be prepared for 'mayhem' when the Christmas shopping season comes.
The employee told the Mirror in an exclusive interview that his Edinburgh store is "already seeing supplies and shelves running desperately low".
The news comes after Iceland managing director Richard Walker begged customers not to panic buy last week amid food shortages.
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Last week Iceland managing director Richard Walker also warned of food shortages and asked customers not to panic buy.
The worker, who wants to stay anonymous, said that "It's getting worse by the week - Christmas will be non-existent at this rate", and attributed the crisis to a shortage of delivery drivers bringing stock to Iceland stores.
Earlier this month Walker said Iceland had been forced to cancel 250 store deliveries a week after being caught up in a UK-wide shortage of lorry drivers - with Iceland currently advertising for 100 driver vacancies with the company.
The Iceland worker said: "About 4 months ago, we were made aware that our delivery schedule was changing due to a shortage of drivers. Instead of receiving stock six times a week, it was changing to five days a week.
"This had an immediate impact on our shelves as we were going two days without receiving anything.
"Then when Tuesday came, the stock which did arrive only plugged gaps. This has repeated for four months and the situation is now critical."
The Iceland employee said the shortages were having an effect on staff.
He added: "I work on the shop floor and it's depressing. The store I work in has never looked as bad as it does today. Morale is low and we are struggling to keep up with demand.
"We deal with angry customers on a daily basis and it's frustrating because we cannot give them positive news."
He added that the shortfalls affect all items stocked in his store.
"Shortages are throughout the board, we are running low on everything," he said. "I am dreading the run up to Christmas as I have experienced many of them. And know that even when we do have full shelves, it's just a riot.
"I fear that people's frustrations will spill over when they realise we just don't have enough. I can safely say that we will have many items unavailable for sale. This will cause mayhem."
Iceland has been approached for comment.
