Tesco has said it will limit the quantity of essential items customers can buy at one time in a bid to quash panic buying.

The supermarket giant said that items including flour, pasta, toilet roll and anti-bacterial wipes will now be rationed.

The news comes just a day after Morrisons introduced similar measures on items also including toilet roll and disinfectant.

A spokeswoman said: “We have good availability, with plenty of stock to go round, and we would encourage our customers to shop as normal.

“To ensure that everyone can keep buying what they need, we have introduced bulk-buy limits on a small number of products.”

The restrictions have been put back in place following the government’s announcement that the public should work from home where possible as positive cases in coronavirus increased.