Families should buy their Christmas dinner in advance and keep it in the freezer, retail experts have warned amid fears supermarkets could run out of festive items including pigs in blankets, hams and party foods in the run up to the holiday.
Industry analysts have sounded the alarm over a shortage of butchers which means that farmers believe have to 'throw pigs in a skip' because they can't be slaughtered and carved - with 150,000 animals under threat of being culled in the next ten days.
The meat crisis is compounding woes caused by a lack of HGV drivers and fuel as well as labour shortages that will lead to a 'distinct lack of choice' this year, with many essential Christmas gifts and foods scarce or missing completely in a blow to millions of people.
Though the Home Office has announced plans to allow 5,500 poultry workers and 5,000 lorry drivers to enter the UK on three-month work visas due to expire on Christmas Eve, industry is already warning that the Government's measures this week are 'too little, too late'.
James Withers, of Scotland Food & Drink, told the Independent that families should ' plan ahead' and freeze what they can as early as possible to avoid having missing ingredients to a traditional Christmas dinner.
'Ultimately, now I think we have just run out of time,' he warned. 'I don't think there is anything that can be done now to get the Christmas trade where it should be. That's despite warnings being sounded since the summer of the scale of the potential labour shortage we might face.'
Lady Ruby McGregor-Smith, the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, called the Government's visa package 'the equivalent of throwing a thimble of water on a bonfire'. The British Retail Consortium also warned 5,000 lorry driver visas would not be enough to prevent Christmas disruption.
It comes as Boris Johnson arrives in Manchester for the Tory Party conference dogged by domestic supply-chain issues, an energy crisis and fears of a cost-of-living crisis caused by soaring inflation, the end of furlough, and tax rises looming in the Spring.
Britons were warned that a 'nightmare' Christmas is looming as the growing list of items set to be in short-supply come December 25 stretched to include pigs in blankets, hams and party foods. Turkeys, drinks, toys and furniture will also be hard to get
Families should buy their Christmas dinner in advance and keep it in the freezer, retail experts have warned amid fears supermarkets could run out of festive items including pigs in blankets, hams and party foods in the run up to the holiday (stock image)
A staff member on an isle at a Tesco store in Swansea, south Wales (stock image)
Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, told the Financial Tim4es it is not clear whether even turkey supplies can be protected.
'You can't apply for a visa until October 15. It then takes three to four weeks to process in a best-case scenario, but the build-up for Christmas needs to start in early November. There is a feeling across producers that it's 'too little, too late' and this should have been done six months ago,' he says.
Richard Burnett, head of the Road Haulage Association, added: 'Christmas doesn't just happen. It takes a huge amount of planning and we can't even sustain normal delivery volumes at the moment. The build-up starts now, but at the pre-Christmas peak you could expect to push out three times normal volumes.'
David Jinks, the
