Coronavirus: Shoppers left without toilet paper after queuing for 45 minutes

Frustrated shoppers stood in a line for 45 minutes at a Coles store in Sydney this morning only to be left empty handed.

Shoppers who queued for 45 minutes for a Coles to open in Sydney have been left empty handed as there was no toilet paper or tissues in stock.

Disgruntled customers that spoke to Channel 9’s Today show said they had been waiting for the Epping store to open since 6.15am this morning, however, when they got in they weren't able to get the one thing they were after.

“We saw pictures of hundreds of people going in. They were lining up for 45 minutes trying to get toilet paper,” reporter Sarah Stewart told Today.

“And people were walking out saying nothing, nothing. We were confused as to what was going on because it was just opened.”

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Shoppers queued for 45 minutes for Epping Coles to open. Picture: Channel 9.

Customers were then told that there was no toilet paper and tissues. There wouldn't be any until noon at the earliest.

“They have been here since quarter past 6 and for them to stand around until noon to get hands on toilet paper is not feasible,” Stewart said.

“It is not the scenes we were expecting. We were thinking a lot of people would come out with what they needed. Yesterday we saw people walking out with toilet paper. Right now there is a lot of frustrated people where we are.”

Today host Karl Stefanovic said it was understandable people were feeling “frustrated and probably a little bit angry and also a little bit upset”.

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Once inside the store, people had to queue if they wanted toilet paper, paper towel and pasta. Picture: AAP/James Gourley

Police were on hand to watch over the queue. Picture: AAP/James Gourley

Some shoppers were in luck. Picture: AAP/James Gourley

“We saw a number of people who are looking at these shelves and you can’t help but feel for them, feel desperately for them because they feel uneasy and feel like they won’t be able to get their supplies,” he said. “They feel alone and isolated and like no-one is looking out for them.”

Speaking later that morning on the Today show, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian sought to reassure shoppers that supplier trucks would now be able to come any time of the night to deliver essential items into supermarkets, meaning shelves could be restocked overnight.

“The NSW government is overriding those regulations that currently exist to make sure trucks can deliver those supplies any time of the night,” she said.

“Potentially but there's a whole number of factors which is causing that slight delay or that delay.

“So therefore we're doing everything we can and we're also encouraging people in the supply chain to do the same. We know the supply is there, we just need to get to it there.”

Police officers handing out paper towels and toilet paper at my local #Woolies #shutdownaustralia pic.twitter.com/avhRUt0Wk5

— Rachel 🥃 (@rache23) March 18, 2020

POLICE HAND OUT TOILET PAPER

Yesterday police stepped in to help hand out toilet paper to shoppers at a Sydney Woolworths.

In video posted to Twitter, two female officers could be seen offering toilet paper and hand towel to customers at the front of a store.

Supermarkets have been faced with shortages of toilet paper all month as shoppers continue to strip shelves of the precious paper amid fears a coronavirus pandemic could see a disruption in supplies.

Tensions have boiled over into physical fights, with NSW Police charging two women with affray after an incident over toilet paper in a Chullora Woolworths in Sydney earlier this month.

A man also had to be tasered in a Big W in Tamworth, northern NSW, over a stoush about toilet.