Sainsbury's shelves stripped

Fruit and vegetables were removed from the shelves of 80 Sainsbury's stores in the West Midlands today following a chemical leak at a storage depot.

Customers faced with empty shelves were given £5 vouchers at some supermarkets as compensation, while at least one store did not charge some people for their food.

A chemical leak at a major distribution centre forced the supermarket giant to scrap produce estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Deliveries were halted amid fears that vast amounts of food had been contaminated by ammonia at Hams Hall near Coleshill.

Stores started to run out of supplies yesterday afternoon and many were empty by today as Sainsbury's tried to restock from other UK distribution depots.

Stores affected in the West Midlands and Staffordshire included those at the Merry Hill centre, Dudley, Chell Road, Stafford, the Sava Centre, Oldbury, and those in Wolverhampton city centre, Wednesfield and Perton.

Customer Janet Foster got a £5 voucher as a goodwill gesture because there was no fresh fruit and veg available at Sainsbury's, Wednesfield last night. She was invited to return today as she found shelves still empty and was not charged for the £14 worth of other goods.

Sainsbury's spokeswoman Melanie Etches said: "It is impossible to say exactly how much produce has been lost at the moment but it will all have to be destroyed." It hopes to have supplies back to normal by tomorrow at the latest.