Around one in four shops are running out of crisps after Walkers was hit by a botched computer upgrade.
The Mirror reports that, between 12 and 15 November, 26 per cent of stores had a limited supply of crisps, while 4 per cent did not stock any multipacks.
It comes a month after Walkers’ Leicester factory, which can produce up to five million packets a day, suffered an IT failure.
The manufacturer was forced to scale back production, concentrating on mainstream flavours like Ready Salted, Cheese & Onion, and Salt & Vinegar.
READ MORE: Crisps listed for £7 on eBay as Walkers runs out
Walkers’ woes are not expected to last beyond this month, with supplies said to be back to normal by Christmas.
A spokesman was “very sorry” for the production delays and shortages last week.
“A recent IT system upgrade has disrupted the supply of some of our products,” he said.
“Our sites are still making crisps and snacks but at a reduced scale.
“We’re doing everything we can to increase production and get people’s favourites back on shelves.”
Attempting to take advantage of the crisis, a number of eBay sellers have massively inflated the prices of single crisp packets.
One account, claiming to provide food at “rock bottom prices”, listed a bag of salt and vinegar crisps at £6.89.
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