Tesco has reintroduced purchasing limits for popular products such as toilet rolls, pasta and flour to prevent its shelves becoming bare.

The supermarket giant said on Friday that a number of products will be restricted to three items per customer, in a repeat of rationing seen at the start of the pandemic.

Flour, dried pasta, toilet roll, baby wipes and anti-bacterial wipes will have purchasing limits in stores, it said.

Tesco has also introduced additional limits for some products online, including rice and canned vegetables.

Rival supermarket Morrisons became the first big grocer to bring back rationing on Thursday, announcing purchasing limits on a raft of cleaning products.

A spokeswoman for Tesco said it still has “good availability with plenty of stock to go round” and encouraged customers to “shop as normal”.

“To ensure that everyone can keep buying what they need, we have introduced bulk-buy limits on a small number of products,” she added.

“To help our customers shop safely, we will also have colleagues at the entrances of our larger stores to remind customers about the safety measures we have in place, including the legal requirement to wear a face covering.”

Earlier this week, Morrisons and Asda said they would reintroduce marshals to the front of their stores to ensure coronavirus measures are being adhered to.

On Monday, the Government said it will now be compulsory for shop staff to wear face coverings while fines for not wearing them will also increase.