Motorists and shoppers have been urged by the boss of Iceland not to panic buy fuel and goods as the shortage of lorry drivers hit supplies.

Ministers faced fresh pressure to ease immigration rules as an emergency measure to attract HGV drivers from overseas amid warnings that 100,000 more were needed across the industry.

Iceland managing director, Richard Walker, echoed the calls when he appeared on the BBC's Question Time show on Thursday evening (September 23).

Mr Walker said the supermarket chain, which began in Oswestry 51 years ago, was around 100 drivers short of what it needed.

“I think the solution – even if it’s temporary – is very, very simple. Let’s get HGV drivers onto the skilled worker list,” he said.

But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who appeared alongside him on the show, suggested adding HGV drivers to the skilled worker list for immigration purposes would not solve the problem, although he insisted he nothing had been ruled out.

He said: “If that was actually the solution I’m sure we’d move to it very quickly and I don’t rule out anything”.

But he added: “This is a global problem, it has come directly as a consequence of coronavirus”.

The government has moved to streamline the testing system and Mr Shapps promised an extra 50,000 tests a year.

The issues around petrol supply, on top of problems in the food industry and rising gas prices have led to warnings government faces a “winter of discontent”.

A combination of factors including Brexit leading to the loss of European Union drivers, the pandemic preventing driving tests and systemic problems in the industry relating to pay and conditions have led to the shortage of qualified HGV drivers.

Rod McKenzie of the Road Haulage Association trade body accused ministers of “government by inertia”, allowing the situation to get “gradually worse” in recent months.

“We have got a shortage of 100,000 (drivers),” he told BBC’s Newsnight.

“When you think that everything we get in Britain comes on the back of a lorry – whether it’s fuel or food or clothes or whatever it is – at some point, if there are no drivers to drive those trucks, the trucks aren’t moving and we’re not getting our stuff.”

Mr McKenzie added: “I don’t think we are talking about absolutely no fuel or food or anything like that, people shouldn’t panic buy food or fuel or anything else, that’s not what this is about.

“This is about stock outs, it’s about shortages, it’s about a normal supply chain being disrupted.”

He said a “very short-term” measure would be to allow drivers onto the shortage occupation list and “seasonal visas” for foreign drivers.

Labour’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy said: “What we are looking at is a winter of discontent. We have shortages of staff, shortages of supply and shortages of skills.”

The HGV sector has been struggling with recruitment in recent months and the issue has already hit supermarkets, with shelves half full and grocers forced to increase salaries and introduce signing on bonuses to fill gaps.

It has spread to waste collection services, with some councils cancelling bin collections as drivers have taken more lucrative jobs elsewhere.

Mr Walker said Iceland was “fully stocked” but as a specialist in frozen foods it was spared some of the issues facing other retailers.

“It’s coming at us from all angles at the moment,” he said. “We have the CO2 issue, we have HGVs, we have a shortage of workers in factories and fields and processing plants. It’s very difficult out there.”