PANIC buying switched from the petrol pumps to the bread shelves at the Sainsbury store in Durham's Arnison Centre yesterday.

A delivery of unleaded fuel on Monday ensured the store's filling station was busy late into the night and from early yesterday.

But, by 2pm, the pumps had run dry, with just a small amount of diesel reserved for the emergency services.

With no indication of when the next fuel delivery would arrive, customers turned their hoarding to essential foods.

A Sainsbury spokeswoman said the bread shelves were empty from mid-afternoon yesterday, despite the efforts of the bakery, with items like long-life milk and potatoes also heavily in demand.

However, stores such as Safeway and Morrisons, in Darlington, reported they had not experienced "panic buying" by customers.

In Stockton, Sainsbury's Sava Centre was criticised for deciding to just sell petrol to customers who had spent £10 or more in the store.

A spokesman said it was to protect customers who would normally shop there from missing out on what little petrol it had left.

He said: "It was very busy with people who just wanted petrol, and the manager wanted to save some for those who would normally shop there."

Stanhope and Weardale Co-op retail manager William Craig said yesterday: "We have sold out of bread and milk. We have been told that deliveries will be every other day, so milk and bread will be arriving on Wednesday, but not Thursday.

"We would ask people not to panic buy, as we are getting two days' worth of stock in one delivery and holding some of it back so people don't grab armfuls of bread."

A spokeswoman for Morrison Supermarkets said: "People are certainly panic buying goods like bread and long-life milk.

"Our vehicles are unaffected by the petrol situation. We still have deliveries going out to all our stores.

"We're trying to stop people panic buying, but that's just the way it is."

A spokesman for Safeway said: "At the moment our food deliveries are going out as normal."

Tesco warned people not to panic buy. A spokesman said: "There's no need for people to panic buy. We're still making deliveries, as we have enough fuel at the depots to maintain our level of service.

"We have had a busy day, but we think that's because people are getting their petrol and shopping in one trip."

An Asda spokesman said: "We've seen regional sales going up, but that's probably more to do with the fact that people have little petrol in their cars and want to buy their food in one trip, rather than four.

"We can continue daily deliveries between now and the weekend.