// Tesco reinstates rationing rules after port closures result in customers panic-buying
// CEO Jason Tarry ensured customers will have enough stock to get them through Christmas and new year
// The ports closures took place after a new strain of coronavirus was found in the UK
Tesco has reintroduced rationing rules on several products, following an increase in customers stockpiling due to the ports closures.
The grocer’s UK chief executive Jason Tarry ensured that customers will have enough stock to get them through Christmas and the new year despite the ongoing closure of French and Belgian ports.
The ports closures took place after a new strain of coronavirus was found in the UK.
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However, Tarry said Tesco would be reinstating purchasing limits on products such as eggs, rice, soap and toilet roll in order to “make sure that everyone can get the food they need in a safe environment”.
“We have strict social distancing measures in our stores to keep our colleagues and customers safe, and we have plenty of food available to suit your needs at Christmas,” Tarry said.
“Tesco has good availability on the small number of fresh products, such as lettuce, cauliflower and citrus fruit that it imports from France at this time of year.”
He added that the grocer is currently operating more than 300 of its larger stores under 24-hour opening until Christmas Eve.
The move came after France and much of the European Union closed its borders to the UK on Sunday, following news that London and the South East had been overrun by a new, more contagious strain of coronavirus.
Overnight, France reopened its ports of entry to its citizens, British nationals living in the country and hauliers, as long as they presented a negative test result.
Despite France and the UK reaching an agreement, more than 50 other countries, including Italy, India and Pakistan, are continuing to block travellers from the UK.
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