SHOPPERS have taken to social media to express frustration at the lack of basic items on the shelves due to the snow storms.

Twitter users posted photographs from retailers including Tesco, Waitrose and Asda, claiming that bread and milk had almost sold out. Politicians have also urged consumers to refrain from panic-buying.

In Falkirk on Friday, a local newspaper reported that “hordes of householders” had been in Asda in Grangemouth looking for essentials.

One shopper was quoted: “I had been queueing for rolls for 20 minutes when this moron, who wasn’t even in the queue, shouted at me ‘you’re never going use all those rolls’.

“If he had taken the time to ask I would have told them they were for my neighbours as well as for my family, but he was just showing off in front of his friend.”

With tankers unable to get to dairy farms, milk has not made it to retail outlets to sell. Andrew McCornick, the National Farmers' Union Scotland President, said: "Many dairy farmers are not getting their milk collected and are being forced to dispose of it in their slurry after a days' milking."

David Lonsdale of the Scottish Retail Consortium, an organisation that represents retailers, said he was hopeful supplies would return to usual levels quickly.

"Most retailers already have well-developed contingency plans in place to deal with disruptions – and the appalling weather conditions over recent days will certainly put these plans to the test. However, so far the overwhelming majority of stores have remained open.

"Consumers are encouraged to continue to shop as normal rather than buying unnecessary quantities, particularly of food or drink."

Alex Fairfull, from fruit and veg supplier George Carruthers, said: "The last couple of days have been challenging with transport. Yesterday we held all our vans in. This morning we sent vans to Ayrshire but were not delivering to the central belt. We are trading at about half the capacity we should be."

An Asda spokesman said: “Despite the ‘Beast from the East’ creating some pretty difficult conditions, our colleagues are working hard to get deliveries through and keep our shelves stocked for our customers.”