Hoarder truth revealed: ‘Panic buyer’ wrongly slammed

Viral vision of a Byron Bay man stocked up with a trolley full of toilet paper, which went viral and sparked a flurry of abuse, isn’t what it seems.

A toilet paper shopper who went viral after being slammed for apparent panic buying wasn’t doing so at all.

Turns out the truth behind the footage captured in Byron Bay is much more reasonable.

Video of the man carting a huge load of TP through a shopping centre car park in the NSW tourist destination was shared widely after it was posted to the Lords of Byron Bay Instagram account on Sunday.

People slammed the “hoarder” for panic buying, assuming it was related to Brisbane’s three-day lockdown.

“Old mate’s eating enough fibre for a small country,” one person wrote.

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With Byron Bay being a great distance from Brisbane, stocking up on the toilet essential would be a very drastic move.

Brisbane and even Gold Coast supermarkets were flooded on Friday ahead of the city’s snap lockdown.

But a Byron local has now revealed the man wasn’t panic buying at all.

She said the shopper was a well-known local Airbnb host who stocked up supplies for his guests every two months.

“I’m surprised Lords of Byron Bay hasn’t taken it down,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

“It’s a small town, so people would know who it is.”

The Instagram account still has the video – which has received more than 11,000 views – up with the caption “great human” and recently shared an appreciation post in its story.