'Brexit collided with Covid': Warnings food and staff shortages could last until Christmas
ITV News Correspondent Dan Rivers takes a behind the scenes look at the struggling food chain - and finds out why there are some shortages
Pigs in blankets and turkeys could be off the menu this Christmas if acute staff shortages continue to threaten food supplies, a supplier has warned.
Sparse supermarket shelves and hundreds of tonnes of wasted veg are just some of the effects of the increasing crisis sweeping across the labour market due to a potent combination of Brexit and the pandemic.
Industry experts warn the issues could last well into the winter, with a warning that stocks of Christmas dinner favourites could run low.
Julian Marks, of farming company Barfoots Foods, told ITV News that workers have had to throw 500 to 600 tonnes of courgettes on the ground due to a lack of staff in the processing factory.
David Brown, of Moores Refrigeration Controlled Transport said: "Brexit collided with Covid and probably nobody could see that coming.
"But what has happened is somewhere in the region of 30,000 EU drivers have gone home during Covid. But now the rules mean they can't come back."
A government spokeswoman said: "We have a highly resilient food supply chain and well-established ways of working with the food sector to address food supply chain disruptions.
"We recently announced a package of measures to help tackle the HGV driver shortage, including plans to streamline the process for new drivers to gain their HGV licence and to increase the number of driving tests able to be conducted."