A SUPERMARKET chain with two large stores in York is the latest to announce measures to help the elderly and vulnerable during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Sainsbury's, which has larger stores at Monk's Cross and Foss Bank, has said its shops will only open to these two groups for the first hour of trading on Thursday, chief executive Mike Coupe said, but will open for an hour longer so other shoppers do not miss out.

Supermarkets have seen a huge surge in demand for delivery services, with no slots available until next month for both Tesco and Waitrose in some parts of the south east.

The surge came as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps authorised a temporary relaxation of the drivers’ hours rules to help deliver goods to stores across the country.

Iceland outlets across the country have also introduced reserved time slots to give the vulnerable and the elderly a chance to shop in store.

Sainsbury’s has now said customers over 70 and those with a disability will also have priority access to online delivery slots from Monday and the chain is also expanding its “click and collect” service.

Mr Coupe added that as of Thursday, Sainsbury’s will be closing its cafes and its meat, fish and pizza counters to free up freight capacity for essential products.

Customers will also only be able to buy a maximum of three of any grocery product and a maximum of two on the most popular items such as toilet roll, soap and UHT milk from Wednesday onward.

“As we work to feed the nation, we are also focusing all of our efforts on getting as much food and other essential items from our suppliers, into our warehouses and onto shelves as we possibly can”, Mr Coupe said.