Families were left without food and the money to buy replacement items after Asda cancelled deliveries without warning.

Zoe Ballz, from Gillingham, was left with no food and was forced to rely on a friend to loan her the cash to buy more after her order mysteriously failed to show up.

Zoe was expecting her delivery at 9pm but had received nothing and heard nothing by 8am the next day.

When she asked to speak to a manager she was told someone would call back in 24 hours but she did not receive an apology for the inconvenience.

She said: "I am totally disgusted with them. I will never buy from them again and I mean it. I would rather starve than give them another penny.

"If it were a television or something not being delivered we can live without it, but food should not be messed around with. Lives may depend on it. I could have needed baby milk to feed a baby."

She added: "Some of us do not have cars to get to the shops or have the ability to travel or walk there when we get let down."

Karen Moseley, from Rochester, was also left without food when her express delivery, due to arrive at between 4pm and 5pm on a Sunday, got cancelled at 4.29pm.

She said: "I couldn't even go to another supermarket for supplies because they were all closed. I waited up until midnight but there was no delivery and no one contacted me."

Karen, a mum of two teenagers, had paid £155 for the weekly shop, which included specific items for her autistic daughter as well as meals for the week.

"It was my main food shop. There were some packed lunch bits for my daughter who can be quite a picky eater so I have to stick to same things a lot of the time."

While her order failed to show up the money had still left her account so Karen was left relying on the goodwill of friends to help her out.

"If it wasn't for a friend helping me out I would have had no money for days and no food."

As a result of the delivery delay Karen had to go to her corner shop for dinner and the next day's packed lunches.

"So I ended up paying more for less," she said.

'Food should not be messed around with. Lives may depend on it...'

Stacey, from Chatham, also experienced a missing delivery when her £68 ordered failed to arrive.

When she had not heard anything she rang to find out what had happened to her order and said she was just simply told to re-order.

"I told them I didn't have the funds to make a new order and now have no shopping for the week with children to feed.

"The customer service was horrible. They just didn't care at all that kids would be left with no food."

Luckily for Stacey she and her teenage daughter were able to borrow money from her mum.

'Adverse weather conditions and staff absence meant that some deliveries unfortunately had to be cancelled...'

"She lent me the money while I awaited my refund, but some people aren't so lucky."

She added: "It was our main food shop of the week. It could have been a single mum on benefits who can't access other funds and needs packed lunches for school and was relying on that delivery."

It is not the first it has happened to Stacey. She said after the last time she had £38 worth of items missing from her delivery and never received a refund.

An Asda spokesman said: "Adverse weather conditions and staff absence meant that some deliveries unfortunately had to be cancelled.

"Refunds for our online delivery service can take up to five days depending on your bank.

"If a refund takes longer than this, customers can contact their banking provider for assistance."