Big-freeze shoppers make a dash for wellies

Sales of wellingtons, thermal underwear and hot water bottles have soared across the borough in the big freeze.

Traders are reporting spikes in winter essentials such as soups, salt and cat litter.

Supermarket group Asda reported sales of children’s wellies were up by 233% in the last 48 hours.

Sales of thermal underwear rose by over 1,000%, while cat litter, used by residents instead of grit, saw a 55% hike.

Food products such as soup and takeaways have been proving the most popular with shoppers.

Sub-zero temperatures have failed to hamper delivieries with big chains reporting minimal disruption.

Many stores are using contingency plans to ensure deliveries get through and shelves are fully stocked. A spokesman for Morrison’s said it was business as usual for them as all deliveries to stores had arrived on time and staff had been able to get in to work.

A spokeswoman from Tesco said all its stores were open and operating as normal.

She said: “Customers have been anticipating the bad weather and stocking up on essentials.

“But we are not seeing panic buying and our delivery network is keeping stores stocked up."