Coronavirus panic-buying sees amusement arcade replace grabber machine toys with TOILET ROLL

A Yorkshire amusement arcade has replaced stuffed toys with toilet roll – as coronavirus panic buying ramps up across the UK.

Supermarkets and shops have reported a surge in people buying toilet roll and hand sanitiser as fear over the outbreak of the killer bug in the UK grows.

Like most of Britain, Eddy Chapman has been baffled by terrified shoppers clearing supermarket shelves in the wake of the coronavirus crisis – which has so far seen 206 people infected by the deadly bug.

And now he’s come up with genius plan to halt the hoarding at Chapmans Fundland amusement arcade in Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

The arcade owner has replaced the stuffed animals in the Eddy’s Maxx Grab machine with rolls of loo paper – which punters can try to grab for just 30p a go.

Eddy, 34, said it was a way to spread some cheer in these worrying times.

He said: “I think all this panic buying of toilet roll has been loo-dicrous, and so came up with this idea to hopefully get people to calm down.”

“It’s 30p a go and we’ve replaced the plush toys in the machine with the loo paper, it’s not quilted or anything, just bog standard.

“It’s just a bit of fun which is what coming to seaside towns like Bridlington is all about, I think people need to relax a little and stop panic buying.

Meanwhile, supermarkets have started rationing products including pasta, hand sanitiser and tinned veges amid the coronavirus crisis.

Tesco has limited customers to five each of items including long-life milk and antibacterial products.

On Saturday, COVID-19 cases in the UK reached 206, after around 20,000 people were tested.

A man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, both with underlying health conditions, have so far died from the disease.