A Ports boss has warned of festive chaos amid a logjam at Southampton docks as unions threaten to hold Christmas hostage with a HGV drivers' strike, supermarket shelves sit empty, toys prices surge and the energy crisis deepens.
Yesterday, families were warned to start shopping for Christmas now amid fears that supplies of toys, electrical goods and other products will be disrupted by the logjams at UK ports.
Retail leaders say the shortage of HGV drivers to carry loads from docks around the coast is threatening festivities and the wider economy.
Shipping giant Maersk has diverted some supersize vessels away from Felixstowe – the country's largest container port – to alternatives on the Continent such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.
The port, which handles 36 per cent of the country's freight-container traffic, cited the lorry-driver shortage and the busy pre-Christmas period for a backlog that has containers piling up.
Tim Morris, head of the Major Ports Group, which represents operators, said that despite the Government saying the supply chain crisis is getting better, we should not 'fool ourselves'.
He told Sky News: 'This week has seen improvements in what we call stack levels, so the amount of containers, for example, sat on the ground. But let's not fool ourselves. It has been an extraordinarily busy 12 months now.
'And what we've seen over the last week, fortnight, have been some of the UK supply chain congestion issues sort of matching up and catching ports... between surging global demand and shipping and very congested inland here in the UK.'
Containers sit on the tarmac at Felixstowe Port. The port, which handles 36% of the country's freight-container traffic, cited the lorry-driver shortage and the busy pre-Christmas period for a backlog that has containers piling up
Empty shelves of frozen turkey and stuffing balls in the freezer aisle at Asda in Kettering, Northamptonshire
It comes after the Unite union revealed last night that it is to ballot thousands of supermarket and delivery drivers over a mass walkout over the coming days - the largest strike threat of its kind since the notorious Winter of Discontent more than 40 years ago.
The recent supply chain crisis, which many fear will continue to cause empty shelves into the festive season, has given truckers 'power', the union said.
As a result, their representatives are demanding commitments from ministers to provide clean toilets and catering facilities at truck stops as well as a pay rise for veteran drivers, after new starters were offered salaries of £50,000 to get behind the wheel.
Meanwhile, it was revealed today that a power link between France and the UK which was damaged by a fire in September will not be full repaired for two years.
Government engineers say Britain has enough energy supply to meet demand and does not believe there will be winter blackouts - but the amount the country will have in reserve at peak times will be the lowest in six years.
It is the latest chapter in an energy crisis that has seen almost a dozen firms fold amid surging gas prices.
And it adds to spiralling chaos across Britain with supermarket shelves left bare, leaving them filling gaps with bizarre items to make stores look less bare.
Shops such as Tesco and Co-op have been caught piling salad cream, HP sauce and cooking oil into chillers in a desperate bid to take up space. Meanwhile chocolate boxes have been chucked into fruit and vegetable slots.
A potential strike would dramatically escalate the situation, as Unite represents around 50,000 HGV drivers, including those for major supermarkets Sainsbury's and Tesco.
The union - whose new leader Sharon Graham promised to operate 'on the edge of the law' to protect members' rights - also wants temporary rules allowing staff to be on the road for up to 10 hours a day to be scrapped.
However, Government sources have slammed the proposals, insisting a mass walkout would cause huge disruption to the tireless work ongoing to try and keep shelves stocked and limit food shortages.
A Department for Transport spokesman told the Telegraph: 'It would be reckless for unions to hold Christmas hostage and damage the work being done to restore supply chains at this vital time of year.
'We have already taken immediate action to increase the supply of HGV drivers, streamline the testing process and improve working conditions.
'We are pleased employers are working towards long-term solutions through improved testing and hiring, with better pay and working conditions, and will continue to support them to do so.'
Ministers fear such wholesale action would be on a similar scale to the Winter of Discontent, where strikes across a host of nationalised industries inflicted misery on Britons in the bitterly cold months at the turn of 1978-79.
Streets were piled high with rubbish bags and even dead bodies were left to rot as binmen and grave-diggers joined in the widespread walkouts.
Unite represents around 50,000 HGV drivers, including those for major supermarkets Sainsbury's and Tesco, so the impact of the threat would be seismic for the supply chain.
Adrian Jones, the union's national officer for road transport at Unite, told the paper: 'HGV drivers are the blood in the body of our economy. We will not hesitate to cut that supply off if the Government and the employers refuse to do what is necessary.'
Current laws prevent one large national strike, he added, due to the fact unions must register their disputes with each individual employer.
Unite is to ballot thousands of supermarket and delivery drivers over a mass walkout over the coming days - the largest strike threat of its kind since the notorious Winter of Discontent more than 40 years ago
Thousands of shipping containers at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk, as shipping giant Maersk has said it is diverting vessels away from UK ports to unload elsewhere in Europe because of a build-up of cargo due to the HGV crisis
Empty shelves at a Sainsbury's store in Charlton, South East London earlier this week
Unite's new leader Sharon Graham (pictured) has promised to operate 'on the edge of the law' to protect members' rights
However, industry leaders are looking into coordinating action in order to cause maximum disruption over the coming weeks.
It comes after supermarkets were mocked yesterday for filling gaps on shelves with bizarre items to make stores look less bare, amid growing fears over a lack of goods coming in.
Shops such as Tesco and Co-op have been caught piling salad cream, HP sauce and cooking oil into chillers in a desperate bid to take up space. Meanwhile chocolate boxes have been chucked into fruit and vegetable slots.
A Tesco Extra in Cardiff put a huge display of sunflower oil at the end of a frozen food aisle,
