Customers were faced with a last minute panic on Christmas Eve when a supermarket didn't have items they had pre-ordered for their big festive shop.

Despite ordering weeks in advance, some shoppers at Morrisons in Strood were told the store didn't have the stock they wanted when they turned up to collect it on December 24.

One customer who did want want to be named booked up her list with Morrisons a month ago, paid £45, half the total bill, and was told to turn up early on Christmas Eve to collect her order.

When she arrived, she joined the queue of about 10 other shoppers at the customer service desk where they were told to wait.

But it soon became apparent that their groceries had not been bagged up and instead staff were rushing around filling up trolleys from the shelves.

"People started to panic, started swearing and some women were crying" - Morrisons shopper

As a result some of the items requested had run out and the disgruntled customers were told to make do with an alternative or shop elsewhere.

The customer said: "We all thought it would just be a case of picking up,loading up the boot and going home.

“But gradually word got round and people started to panic, started swearing and some women were crying.”

“One woman had ordered three different types of dessert and they did not have one of them and another ordered a large turkey and was offered two smaller birds which she complained she could not fit in her oven."

A Morrisons spokesman said : “Our pre-order and collect service is extremely popular because of the convenience it offers at this busy time of year.

"If we experience any issues on product availability we make every effort to contact customers in advance to advise them of this and offer an alternative or their money back.

“We pick most of our customer’s order in advance, but we collect fresh and frozen items on arrival to ensure customers receive the product in the best possible condition, which can sometimes take a few minutes.

“We pride ourselves on giving great service and we’re therefore very sorry to hear that the customer was unhappy on this occasion.”

• Did you pre-order you Christmas shop at Morrisons? Let us know your experiences by calling the newsroom on 01634 227803.