PANIC buyers have been clearing the supermarket shelves of meat as the foot and mouth crisis deepens.

Anxious shoppers in Bolton have been snapping up red meat as fears of a shortage grew, store managers said.

Sales of white meat have boomed as shoppers seek an alternative to lamb and beef.

A BEN survey of town centre supermarkets yesterday found that many meat shelves were less than half full by noon.

But supermarkets in the town say they are confident that they are not about to run out of supplies just yet.

Martin Corban, deputy manager of Sainsbury's, said there had been a run on his store's meat shelves.

He said: "As long as the animals keep moving to the abattoirs we will be OK."

Stewart Davy, Asda manager, said: "We are struggling on pork and lamb while frozen foods have also been selling fast.

"But we are not in danger of running out as we will be sourcing stocks in from Europe."

Mark Gore, manager of Kwik Save, in Crompton Way, said: "At the moment, we are not too bad but we will struggle at this rate in two weeks' time.

"Customers are clearing us of chicken and bacon."

Staff at the Government's Meat and Livestock Commission have been working to ensure animals can be moved from farms to abattoirs under licence since Friday.

Gwyn Howell, director general, said: "We are pulling out all the stops to get production restarted and British meat back on shop shelves and into catering establishments while helping to ensure nothing gets in the way of controlling and eradicating foot and mouth disease."

Members of the meat industry can find out more on the commission's hotline 01908 844794.