Anger over shortages at Mull's only supermarket

A picture taken this week of empty shelves at the Co-op in Tobermory

Islanders on Mull have expressed anger at shortages in the island's only supermarket.

Co-op has apologised and said the situation at its Tobermory shop and a number of its other stores was caused by a "severe ordering system failure".

It said it was working to resolve the problem and new stock was arriving at its Mull supermarket.

But islander Andrew Wilson said the situation affecting essentials had been going on for months.

While there was no blame placed on local staff, he said there were "a lot of angry people on Mull" about the company's handling of the situation.

Co-op said it was "very sorry" for a problem affecting "some of its stock"

Mr Wilson said: "We keep getting the usual response that it's a nationwide problem with shortages.

"The only problem for Mull residents is that we don't have any other option to shop elsewhere.

"Because of the limited ferries running this time of year it's difficult to get off the island to shop, so we are reliant on the Co-op, especially the elderly."

Co-op said serving island communities was a priority

Co-op said it was "very sorry" to have run low on some products in a small number of stores.

A spokeswoman said: "We understand the genuine inconvenience this will have caused our customers and are taking immediate steps to divert emergency additional supplies to the store to help them restock as quickly as possible, as serving our island communities is a priority and a responsibility we take very seriously."