UK supermarkets have started to ration food after coronavirus panic-buying gripped Britain

• UK supermarkets are starting to ration food after British people become gripped by coronavirus panic-buying.
• British shoppers are flooding supermarkets and emptying shelves as the virus spreads across the UK.
• The country's biggest supermarkets are starting to ration some products to two or three items per person.
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Brits to avoid all nonessential contact.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

UK supermarkets are starting to ration food after a wave of panic-buying by UK consumers in anticipation of an enforced lockdown due to the rapid spread of coronavirus across the country.

Sainsbury's - the UK's third largest supermarket - is rationing food and creating opening hours for the elderly and most vulnerable in an effort to stop food running out as the coronavirus crisis grows.

Another supermarket, Waitrose, has also informed its customers that it will "reluctantly" impose limits on some items, while Tesco has also imposed limits in some of its stores as well as ending 24-hour opening times.

Other major stores are also urging shoppers to only buy what they need.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has prompted huge numbers of Brits to stockpile food and other essentials, despite Boris Johnson's government and supermarket bosses urging people to shop as normal.

Sainsbury's announced on Wednesday that it would ration food to ensure it is available to all customers.

Sainsbury's Chief Executive Mike Coupe told customers that they'd be limited to three items of products and two items of the most popular products, like milk, toilet paper, and soap.

"We have enough food coming into the system, but are limiting sales so that it stays on shelves for longer and can be bought by a larger numbers of customers," Couple told customers in an email.

The supermarket said it would reserve certain opening hours for the elderly and other people most vulnerable to coronavirus, and prioritise the online orders of people aged 70 and over.

It will also close its cafes as well as counters selling meat, fish, and pizza, in order to reduce human interaction.

The move comes after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday urged Brits to avoid nonessential contact.

Chief Executive Coupe said this would "free up warehouse and lorry capacity for products that customers really need" and "free up time for our store colleagues to focus on keeping the shelves as well stocked as possible."

The supermarket will from next week grow its "click and collect" service by increasing the number of pick-up locations. This is designed to reduce the number of customers going to supermarkets to do their shopping.