Transport minister Grant Shapps has extended drivers hours temporarily to allow them to make slightly longer journeys.
James Bielby, chief executive of the FWD, said: “This is just what food distributors needed – an immediate and obvious solution to what could have been a catastrophic supply chain failure.
“The flexibility in drivers’ hours means that those out-of-the-way shops, pubs and restaurants will get the stock they need for the big re-opening on Freedom Day, and will allow wholesalers to do as much as 15% more deliveries each day.”
But not everybody welcomed the drivers’ hours extension.
Mark Todd, national officer for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), said: “Fatigue is known to be a factor in up to a quarter of serious and fatal road traffic accidents and lorry drivers are known to be at a greater risk of suffering fatigue, even when they are driving within the European driving hours limits because shift patterns require them to work anti-social hours.”
