Coronavirus in Portsmouth: Shoppers stream into Asda Havant at 6am as low-income carer reveals struggle in buying food

Dozens of trolley-pushing shoppers filed into Asda in Havant at the same time as the supermarket chain announced limits on purchases.

It comes as the number of people to test positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Wednesday is 2,626, up from 1,950 at the same time on Monday.

Mum-of-two Hale Manni, 33, from Purbrook was shopping for her family-of-four this morning when she spotted the queue in Larchwood Avenue.

Full-time carer Hale revealed hers is a low-income family and she has struggled with money recently and was desperately trying to find food to feed her family.

‘I did not go out to bulk buy after struggling with money and trying to find food recently,’ she said.

‘I finally got paid a little yesterday so I went out to grab a few essentials but the shelves were empty in both my local Sainsbury's and Asda.

‘So I had no choice but to be there at that time to get the bare necessities and at the same time got my friend a few bits too for her and her toddler.’

Former hairdresser Hale was unable to buy pasta rice, toilet roll, antibacterial gel or bread.

Empty shelves have become a common sight in the area, with toilet rolls, antibacterial gel, pasta, chopped tomatoes, other tinned vegetables and other essentials in seeming short supply.

Stores have said they have enough but are restricting purchases to prevent bulk buying.

In a statement Asda said: ‘We have plenty of products to go around, but we have a responsibility to do the right thing for our communities to help our customers look after their loved ones in a time of need.

‘This is why, as of March 18, customers will only be able to buy up to three of any product across all food items, toiletries and cleaning products, so that all of our customers in stores and online have access to the products they and their families need.’

Sainsbury’s and Tesco have also restricted the number of items shoppers can buy.

Asda has shut its cafes and pizza counters, and will shut 24-hour stores between 12am and 6am to allow restocking to take place.