Watford Foodbank says there is not a shortage of essential items while shoppers’ stockpile during the coronavirus outbreak, despite other foodbanks struggling to keep up with demands.

Panic buyers around Hertfordshire and the UK are leaving supermarket shelves empty, making some items like loo rolls and dried foods hard to buy.

Other foodbanks across the UK say that the stockpiling trend will impact the vulnerable, as less will be donated.

But Andrew Tranter, the manager of Watford Foodbank, says that while they are yet to suffer any negative repercussions from people bulk buying, he admits “we don’t know for the long term”.

He said: “We’re fortunate in Watford to live in such a wealthy town compared to areas further north where I know some foodbanks are struggling.

“What we are doing, is sticking closely to the menu for food parcels as normally when we have a lot of food, we can be a bit more generous with our parcels.”

In previous shortages, the foodbank shared some supplies with neighbouring foodbanks including Harrow Foodbank, which may be considered if supplies do eventually run short.

Mr Tranter says he is grateful that many recent donations of lifelong milk, pasta and other essentials means the foodbank has a lot to go through before it reaches shortages.

He said: “We always have a backstop, and we’re lucky as we have the money to buy food from the donations.

“If people wish to donate to us, we’ll buy the foods necessary, we use it solely to buy the food and it’s not going into anyone’s pocket.

“People are still donating, we haven’t seen any fallout yet, so we are remaining positive about it.

“Any changes to patterns, we will pick up very quickly as we can see the statistics daily of what goes in and what goes out.”

While the foodbank is still managing despite people stockpiling, Mr Tranter warned that people should stop bulk buying essentials like toilet roll.

He said: “People that really need it such as in nursing homes and hospitals are running out, people should be less worried on stocking on that and should instead follow the advice to wash hands regularly.

“The whole approach to the issue is to avoid the peak by trying to be sensible, so we should let it go in a controlled way rather than panic.”

The foodbank held a recent challenge asking 50 children to transform thousands of food cans into standout monuments.

Around 7,00 cans were donated, which was later met with around 115,000 extra tinned tomatoes and donated cash.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust that manages the foodbank, said: “With the spread of coronavirus we all now face an unprecedented challenge and uncertain future.

“It is possible that food banks will face increased demand as people lose income, at the same time as food donations drop or staff and volunteers are unavailable, due to measures rightly put in place to slow the spread of infection.

“All of this comes when food banks are already dealing with a record level of need for emergency food.

“We’re working with our network on how best to support people as the situation unfolds.

“Wherever possible, food banks will continue to provide the lifeline of emergency food to people unable to afford the essentials and we encourage the public to continue donating after checking with their local food bank what items are most needed.”