SHOPPERS were stocking up on essentials such as bread, milk, eggs and tinned food this week as the knock-on effects of the fuel crisis spread throughout the county.

SHOPPERS were stocking up on essentials such as bread, milk, eggs and tinned food this week as the knock-on effects of the fuel crisis spread throughout the county.

Mary Benton, the store manager at the Asda superstore in Holmers Farm Way in High Wycombe, said customers were snapping up basic foodstuffs in case the delivery trucks failed to get through.

She said: 'We are out of petrol and the filling station is closed. Our bakery is producing more and more bread to meet demand. People are buying more milk, eggs, tinned foods, potatoes and bread, and we are not running low.'

The Asda manager said bread production in the in-store bakery had risen by at least 20 per cent to meet customers' needs.

Bruce Allcock, Sainsbury's manager in Dovecot Road, High Wycombe, said people flocked to the supermarket to stock up on goods such as bread, milk, baked beans, fresh fruit, nappies, toilet rolls and vegetables.

He said: ' I 've noticed a big difference in customers' purchasing habits. We were 50 per cent busier on Tuesday than on average.'

Deliveries to Asda and Sainsbury's are on track to keep fully stocked this weekend - if their trucks get fuel and panic buying eases.