Panic buying has well and truly hit the UK, with photos of empty shelves circulating on social media and rumours that supermarkets are to start rationing items as people rush out to stock up due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Now one amusement arcade owner has decided to get in on the action by filling up his grabber machine with toilet rolls that folks can try and win for 30p a go. Well, that certainly sounds more fun than a trip to the local supermarket, doesn’t it?
Eddy Chapman, who manages Chapman Funland in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, has taken the usual soft toys out of his Maxx Grab machine and instead topped it up with bog roll to try and tempt would-be panic buyers.
Chapman says his 30p-a-go-grabber is intended to spread a bit of cheer and that he hopes customers will see the funny side.
He said: “I think all this panic buying of toilet roll has been loo-dicrous, and so came up with this idea to hopefully get people to calm down.
“It’s 30p a go and we’ve replaced the plush toys in the machine with the loo paper, it’s not quilted or anything, just bog standard.
“It’s just a bit of fun which is what coming to seaside towns like Bridlington is all about, I think people need to relax a little and stop panic buying.”
You can say that again, Eddy – over in Australia an actual fist fight broke out in a supermarket over toilet paper.
A shocking video was shared online which showed three women in a Woolworth’s store in Chullora, west Sydney coming to blows as panic buying hit a new low.
In the clip a woman can be heard saying: “I just want one pack.”
However, the second woman, who appeared to already have a full trolley of toilet rolls, responded: “No, not one pack.”
A male member of staff intervened and told the trio: “I need everyone to back off right now. You need to get off this trolley.”
A spokesperson from Woolworths told 7 News: “We can confirm an incident involving customers at our Chullora store in Sydney earlier today.
“We will not tolerate violence of any kind from our customers in our stores and we are working with Police who are investigating the matter.”
