Unwelcome reminders of lockdown were spotted at Lidl stores in Edinburgh this week after aisles had been stripped of all their toilet roll.
Shoppers heading in for essential supplies were surprised to see a number of both food and household items were missing in different supermarkets across the city.
With supply issues affecting many retailers both in and out of Edinburgh, one shopper at the Newington store had shared an image of the toilet roll aisle lying completely bare.
The large section of the store was seen with only empty shelves, leaving not one roll to spare.
Similar scenes were spotted in the Easter Road branch of Lidl on Friday (September 17), with a serious lack of fresh fruit and vegetables available.
Shocked at the huge gaps in the aisles, another customer had shared a series of photos online showing the empty palettes and produce boxes around the store.
Both general fruit and vegetables and those kept refrigerated appeared to have been raided by customers, with one fridge only holding a few lone packets of blueberries.
A central aisle shelf was also seen almost wiped clean, with only a few crates to be seen dotted around with produce.
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It comes as retailers all over the UK are facing food and drink shortages on the shelves, with one industry leader warning the situation could become permanent.
Chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, Ian Wright, has warned that supply issues that have already hit supermarkets as well as takeaways and restaurantsare "going to get worse" as the market changes permanently after Brexit and the pandemic.
According to to Yorkshire Live, Mr Wright also stressed that "these shortages don’t mean you’re going to run out of food."
He added: "The UK shopper could have previously expected just about every product they want to be on shelf or in the restaurant all the time.
"That’s over and I don’t think it’s coming back."
A spokesperson for Lidl said: "Unfortunately, like a number of other retailers, there has been some disruption to our supply chain networks affecting a limited number of product lines.
"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and are doing all we can to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to minimise any impact to our customers."
