Britain is facing a halloumi shortage in the hottest week of the year, it has been claimed.

Strict EU rules dictate that the Cypriot cheese, admired for its salty taste and meaty texture, must be made on the Mediterranean isle from at least 20 per cent sheep and goat's milk.

But farmers are struggling to keep up with demand from the UK, the second biggest consumer of the cheese outside of Cyprus.

Supermarket aisles are running out of stock and shoppers are taking to social media to decry the shortages.

Now the main producer of the cheese, Pittas,is sending emergency supplies across Europe by road in order to cut down the normal four week lag if ferried by sea.

"It costs more money to send it that way but Brits love their halloumi," said company director John Pittas.

A team from the Roslin Institute at Edinburgh University,where Dolly the sheep was cloned, is helping Cypriot farmers to increase their milk production to boost halloumi yields.

The institute's Ricardo Pong-Wong said: "The team in Cyprus are doing a fantastic job and they are already seeing the benefits."