ONGOING FOOD supply issues have led to one in five people in Scotland being unable to buy essential food, a recent survey has found.

Research conducted by delivery management experts Urbantz used new ONS data on goods shortages to analyse the percentage of people in Scotland who were unable to access essential food between the September 22 and October 3.

The study found that 18% of people in Scotland were unable to buy essential food items in that fortnight, with half of all respondents reporting that there was less variety of food in the shops than usual.

On a UK-wide level, one in six people struggled to buy essential food items in the same period, and 15% of people couldn’t buy fuel – with the south east and the east of England hit the hardest by fuel shortages.

A spokesperson for Urbantz, commented on its findings: “With the country facing significant delivery of food and other essentials, it’s vital to look at the experiences of families in the UK, and what they have dealt with in the past two weeks when trying to shop for food, medicine, and fuel.

“The impact of the driver shortage is felt across the entire supply chain, all the way through to the last mile – where consumers are faced with fewer choices at checkout and longer delays on their deliveries due to retailers' struggles to keep their warehouses stocked."

For more information visit www.Urbantz.com