PICTURES have shown shelves completely empty at Barrow’s biggest supermarket.

Shelves usually used to display vegetables were bare amid national problems with food supply chains.

Stocks across the country have been affected by a shortage of lorry drivers amid concerns over the pandemic and the impact of Brexit.

It is understood empty shelves at the Hindpool Road store may not have been caused by wider issues with supply.

Tesco is thought to have good supplies of food, with a constant stream of deliveries arriving at stores and distribution centres across but has been affected a shortage of lorry drivers.

Tesco HGV drivers are being given a £1,000 joining bonus, with the supermarket chain also supporting academies for drivers.

The amount of stock being distributed by rail is also being increased increasing the volumes on our rail distribution network; improving the efficiency of our current processes; supporting academies for drivers and engaging with Government on further solutions.

Addressing fears over whether supply issues were being caused by Brexit, Barrow's Conservative MP Simon Fell: ;"This is yet another unfortunate consequence of the lack of HGV drivers at present, compounded by Covid-related travel restrictions.

"I've raised this with ministers direct - there's now a weekly meeting between the haulage industry, supermarkets and Ministers, and DVLA are being supported to get through the backlog so we should soon see improvements.

"But I'd ask that any constituents who are having issues with DVLA to get in touch so my team can support them."

Supermarket food shortages are going to get worse in the coming months, according to industry experts.

People across the UK have been reporting gaps on store shelves in recent weeks.

The UK Government has been urged to take action to tackle the HGV driver shortage, which alongside Brexit challenges and some Covid issues has been largely responsible for the problems.

According to Shane Brennan, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, shortages could get worse at Christmas time.

“It’s been obscured by the pingdemic but that was the superficial problem rather than the ongoing problem – that we are chronically short of the drivers we need at every stage of the supply chain,” he said.

“We’ve seen a massive exodus of non-UK labour during the pandemic and we don’t know if they are able to come back.”