A critical care nurse broke down in tears after being unable to buy food from a supermarket following her 48-hour shift.

Dawn Bilbrough, 51, from York, delivered an emotional appeal from her car as she urged panic-buyers to stop stripping the shelves.

Supermarkets across the country have been unable to cope with the sharp increase in demand, leaving many shoppers unable to buy basic foods.

In her heartbreaking appeal following her shift, the nurse pleaded with people to consider others during the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: ‘So I’ve just come out the supermarket. There’s no fruit and veg and I had a little cry in there.

‘I’m a critical care nurse and I’ve just finished 48 hours of work and I just wanted to get some stuff in for the next 48 hours.

‘There’s no fruit, there’s no vegetables and I just don’t know how I’m supposed to stay healthy.

‘Those people who are just stripping the shelves have basic foods you just need to stop it because it’s people like me that are going to be looking after you when you are at your lowest and just stop it, please.’

Supermarkets have already taken extreme measures to combat panic-buyers.

Tesco, meanwhile, has changed its store opening times to cope with the increased demand and give staff more time to restock the shelves.

During his press conference on Thursday, Boris Johnson urged the nation to be ‘reasonable’.

He said: ‘We’ve got good supply chains, farm to fork, there’s no reason for shops to be empty.

‘Of course, everybody understands why people are buying stuff, we’re all being advised to stay at home if we think we have symptoms.

‘But please be reasonable. Be reasonable in your shopping, be considerate and thoughtful of others as you do it.’