AN ELDERLY couple who are self-isolating are calling for help after they could not get any food.

Nora Davidson, 70, and her 72-year-old husband Douglas, from Toronto near Bishop Auckland, are both in the ‘at risk’ category and so have decided to self-isolate.

Mrs Davidson is diabetic and asthmatic, and her husband is a recovering from cancer. Their daughter Andrea Davidson is helping buy their food for them.

However, when she tried to order food online from Morrisons in Bishop Auckland she was told it would be April 14 at the earliest for a delivery to be made. She then rang the other supermarkets in the town who said the same thing.

Mrs Davidson said: “I am old school and I have a store cupboard and I make sure I have one of everything and enough supplies, but we can’t wait three weeks.

"I have to eat a specific diet because I am diabetic otherwise my sugar levels will drop. All I wanted was my normal grocery shop and I can’t get it.

“We are trying to save our own lives as well as the lives of others by staying at home and self-isolating. We should be following the government advice, but a lot of people are panicking.

“We don’t do technology and there will be a lot of people in the same boat and they are the ones most at risk. All we want is our shopping.”

Supermarkets recently announced a priority shopping hour for older customers to do their shopping without the crowds.

But Mrs Davidson said: “The shopping hour is too early – old people are not awake at seven or eight o’clock and if they are it takes us a while to get up. I have arthritis and it takes me a while to get comfortable in the morning and by time I can get out it’s the afternoon.

“I have a car I can go down the shops but it defeats the point of self-isolating.”

Morrisons offered a Click and Collect service but the nearest location for collection was at its store in Darlington.

Mrs Davidson's daughter Andrea said: “They followed the guidelines and I told them not to worry. I spent hours trying to console her.

“I looked at the major supermarkets' online websites and there is no delivery slot for over two weeks. There was a button to identify yourself as a vulnerable person, but it was not clear – I looked all over for it and didn’t find it.

“People aren’t flocking to the local shops like the grocers and butchers and they have everything you need if you go early enough. I’ll find a solution to the problem.”