'We have 14m hens...we'll get through egg shortage'

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Therese Coffey said the UK will cope with an egg shortage as "there are still nearly 14 million egg-laying hens".

- Martina Bet

Her comments came as Asda and Lidl limited the number of boxes that shoppers can buy while supply disruptions caused by rising costs and bird flu continue to bite.

Asda is restricting customers to two boxes of eggs each, one less than the limit in some Lidl stores.

Waitrose bosses said that they had not introduced any limits but were "continuing to monitor customer demand".

Aware

Ms Coffey said she was aware of "what is happening in individual shelves" but claimed retailers had not "directly" contacted her department with supply chain problems.