MORRISONS in Harwood has been cleaned out of anti-bacterial soap and sanitisers over fears of coronvirus.

Shelves selling pump action liquid soap are all but empty, with one shopper saying they were told it was because of the virus.

The scene is replicated across many different stores across the UK.

Twitter, users have shared photos of empty shelves in Boots branches as well as images revealing a shortage of hygiene products in some supermarkets.

Another shopper who visited Asda this evening said: "There was one person buying bottles of TCP because there was no sanitizer left. I was told it was because of the virus.

"People were buying tinned vegetables and they seemed to run low on the shelves. I thought it was bonkers and am not getting involved in that sort of buying."

Nationally sales of hand sanitiser in supermarkets more than tripled last month as worried customers flocked to protect themselves from coronavirus.

Sales soared by 255 per cent during February, according to new data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Meanwhile, liquid soap sales increased seven per cent and household cleaning products rose 10 per cent.

A spokesman for LloydsPharmacy, which runs over 1,500 UK pharmacies, said it too was limiting the sale of hand gel products to two per person both online and in store.

"We know that having access to products like hand gels is extremely important to our customers, so we are doing everything we can to ensure availability, despite increasing demand and supply challenges," he said.

A spokesman for Well Pharmacy, which has more than 700 branches, said that despite a surge in demand for sanitising products it was currently "not limiting stocks to our customers" and working to maintain stock levels.

"This may result in stock being temporarily unavailable whilst it is replenished from our distribution centre," he added.

A new Government publicity campaign seeks to drive home the message that regular hand-washing is the single most important action individuals can take in the fight against Covid-19.

The new adverts say hand-washing should be for 20 seconds, using soap and water or hand sanitiser.