More than half of Brits – 56 per cent – have noticed food shortages in their local shop or supermarket in the past few weeks.

The research by YouGov surveyed 3560 UK adults.

This number represents a significant rise compared to the 45 per cent of consumers experiencing shortages the market researcher reported in August and the 36 per cent reported in July.

Residents of Scotland and the South of England outside of London were the worst affected with 67 per cent and 57 per cent of consumers experiencing shortages, respectively.

Residents of London were the least impacted by the shortages according to YouGov, with just 46 per cent experiencing them.

Older consumers were more impacted by the shortages according to YouGov; 60 per cent of those over 50 said they were experiencing shortages compared to just 42 per cent of those aged 18 to 24.

The study also found that women and the affluent were more likely to be impacted by the shortages; 62 per cent of females said they experienced shortages compared to 49 per cent of men.

Over half - 57 per cent - of members of the higher income ABC1 demographic said they experienced shortages compared to 54 per cent of the lower income C2DE demographic.

Last month, a report commissioned by the National Farmers Union estimated there are over half a million vacant posts in farming, food production and distribution, retail, and hospitality.

Some industry leaders - British Retail Consortium and Logistics UK - have called for a 12-month ‘Covid-19 Recovery’ visa, which would allow EU citizens, such as truck drivers, to temporarily work in the UK to help remedy the labour shortages.

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) last week announced that it believes the current workers shortages could last up to two years.

Last week, the National Pig Association also warned that farmers could need to kill and burn nearly 100,000 animals if the industry’s worker shortage can’t be fixed.

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