Large British supermarket chains have decided to ration certain products in order to prevent an uncontrolled wave of purchases following new restriction measures in the country, as was the case during the lockdown at the end of March.

Tesco, the country's largest supermarket chain, now limits certain products in its stores to three purchases per person: flour, pasta, toilet paper, disinfectant, and  baby wipes.

For online purchases, additional limits are in place for rice and canned vegetables.

While Covid-19 cases are experiencing a resurgence in the most bereaved country in Europe, the British government has asked pubs and restaurants to shut at 10pm in England, and has encouraged employees to again favour teleworking. The range of measures could be tightened if the rapid spread of Covid-19 is not halted.

"We have a good supply, with a lot of stocks, and we encourage customers to shop normally," said a spokesperson for Tesco in a statement sent to AFP on Friday.

But "to make sure that everyone can buy what they need, we are introducing limits on a small number of products," he adds.

Tesco is following in the footsteps of its competitor Morrisons, which introduced limits on toilet paper and disinfectants on Thursday.

"Our inventory levels for these products are good, but we want them to be available to everyone," said a Morrisons spokesperson.

Supermarkets want to avoid reliving what happened when containment was put in place in March, when the shelves were stripped bare by customers preparing for lockdown.

The situation is very different now, however, even if photos circulating on social networks show empty shelves in supermarkets. Supermarkets have assured that they are ready to face strong demand, and have beefed up their online offer and delivery capacities.

"The supply chains are more solid than before and we do not anticipate problems in the availability of food or other goods in the event of future containment", underlined Andrew Opie, an official of the BRC (British Retail Consortium).