CONCERNS have been raised that bulk or panic buying could be making an unwelcome return to city shops and supermarkets.

These images of empty shelves are reminiscent of the early weeks of the pandemic when there were chaotic scenes in shops.

And it was that popular item, toilet rolls, that appeared to be in high demand once again as shelves were quickly emptied in the toilet roll aisles of the Tesco store in St Peter’s, and in Waitrose in London Road.

In these pictures, sent in by readers, shelves at Tesco showed low stocks on Monday afternoon, and the shelves in Waitrose were also empty, as shown by this picture taken yesterday.

Both supermarkets were contacted yesterday for a response, and asked if popular items would be restricted to one per customer as some stores were forced to do in March.

A spokesman for Waitrose said: "It (product restrictions) is not something we are doing at the moment.

"We did look at what people bought in March and are prepared, so we are confident we have the right products in the right places."

Tesco was not available for comment.

It is understood capacity was increased at supermarkets after panic-buying in spring, to avoid the issues seen earlier this year over key products.

Worcester News readers spoke of their anger and concerns it could lead to a repeat of more widespread problems.

Jess Pinches wrote: “I said people were panic buying again. It will end up like last time.”

READ MORE: Second lockdown: Why there's no need to start panic-buying

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Brian Tipping said: “How pathetic - bog rolls won’t stop a virus.”

Jennie Austen wrote: “I did see myself yesterday tins were low again.”

Marianne Frost said: “Here we go again why do people do this - one person’s greed and everyone else suffers.”

Kelly Tippin said: “Why would people even need to panic buy? People need to get a grip.”

Emily Louise simply wrote: “Here we go again.”

Pauline Bronwen Price said: “Why are things not being rationed. This would be fair to everyone else.”

However, other readers reported well-stocked shelves in some stores when they were out shopping yesterday.