SUPERMARKETS have been hit by shortages in recent weeks, as the coronavirus “pingdemic”exacerbated problems in the supply chain.

The boss of the UK’s biggest dairy supplier has said supermarkets could face a “summer of disruption” to milk deliveries if the Government does not act to address a shortage of lorry drivers.

Arla, which supplies milk to about 2,400 stores each day in the UK, has said it was unable to deliver to 600 stores last Saturday due to dwindling driver numbers.

Ash Amirahmadi, managing director of Arla Foods UK, said the company has struggled to deliver to 10 per cent of stores on a more regular basis in recent weeks.

He told BBC Radio’s Today programme: “I think when you are not able to supply 10 per cent of the stores which are expecting to get milk every day, I think that’s quite worrying for a customer walking into a store and not being able to have milk so we are taking it very seriously.

But it’s not the first time Herefordshire’s shops have seen their shelves stripped of milk.

Six years ago, the shelves were emptied for a very different reason as protesters angry about the decreasing price dairy farmers were receiving for their milk descended on the Asda store in South Wye just after 7pm on August 5.

Several trolley-loads of milk were filled by the group, who then paid for the goods before handing them out to the public outside the store while inviting donations to the air ambulance and St Michael’s Hospice.

The actions mirrored those that took place across the country as farmers railed against the supermarkets with a series of protests, including one farmer who herded two cows through his local Asda supermarket in Stafford.

Farmers said they needed at least 30p a litre to cover their costs, but were paid an average 23.66p in June that year, according to a British dairy organisation.