An Oldham grocers has reassured customers that it is fully stocked and will not be rationing items as shortages of fresh produce leave supermarket shelves bare across the country.

Alimentari Di Alberti Greengrocers in Uppermill has said it will not be following in the footsteps of the UK supermarkets that have limited customer purchases due to supply issues.

On Tuesday, Asda introduced a customer limit of three on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower, and raspberries.

At Morrisons stores there is currently a limit of two items per customer on tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers.

Other supermarkets are understood to be considering similar temporary measures.

The food shortages have been caused by a combination of bad weather and transport problems in Africa and Europe.

Posting on Facebook, Alimentari Di Alberti Greengrocers, located on New Street, wrote: “Wow this scaremongering is horrendous!

“Reports are now in that certain supermarkets from tomorrow will be limiting the purchase of fruit and veg to three items per customer.

“We can assure you we are fully stocked, and you will not be limited to two or three items like the supermarkets. Come fill your baskets!”

Ivanna McGowan, one of the managers at Alimentari Di Alberti Greengrocers, said the store has asked people “not to panic” and that there has been an element of scaremongering in the media’s coverage of the food supply issues.

She said: “I think generally the supermarkets are just trying to stop people from bulk buying.”

Ivanna said that as the greengrocers gets its stock from Smithfield Market, which sources food directly from farmers, it has not faced the same supply issues that supermarkets have.

She explained: “The supply is there it’s just that the prices have increased because the weather has affected the crops and farmers are able to charge what they want.

“Supermarkets tend to make a contract with certain companies to buy say 85 per cent of their stock at a certain price and then the markets get the rest.

“Fruit and vegetables are still coming through they are just a bit more expensive than they normally are at this time of year, but those prices will go down.

“Unlike supermarkets we don’t have set prices on a lot of the fruit and vegetables because the prices go up and down throughout the year.

“At the moment tomatoes are expensive to buy in. We only pass the price onto the customer because we’re covering what we’re paying for it and can’t run at a loss, but we still want people to have it.

“Not everything is affected, and we are doing what we can for customers to make sure we have supply and shouldering some of the costs.

“A lot of people go to supermarkets for convenience but if they haven’t got an item, we have got it here and are available.”

Alimentari Di Alberti Greengrocers is currently selling cost-of-living veg boxes that are priced at £22.50.

Commenting on the boxes, Ivanna said: “You get a lot of items in there that would probably cost you £30 if bought individually.

“The stock is fresh, it comes in every day. Our stock also lasts longer than a lot of the things you buy at the supermarket because its not sat on shelves for days on end.

“Mushrooms will come straight off the ferries to the markets where they will be unloaded into vans and delivered that day. People can have stock that’s come from the farm the day before rather than it being weeks old.”