Shoppers in Wigan shocked to see bottle of hand sanitiser being sold for almost £9

Shoppers in Wigan were shocked to see a bottle of hand sanitiser being sold for almost £9.

The 500ml container of Nilco home hand sanitiser has been spotted on the shelves of B&M on Worthington Way, Marus Bridge, with a price label of £8.99.

Usually the product would sell for just £1.

Bosses for the discount retailer blamed higher supply prices for the rise in costs, with shelves left barren in the last few weeks as customers panic-buy supplies of hand sanitiser, toilet roll, pasta and more as further cases of coronavirus are confirmed during the lockdown. But Tony Brown, who sent a picture of the hand sanitiser into the Wigan Post after his wife had visited the Wigan store, said that customers were being “exploited” and that the charge is “just wrong”.

Mr Brown said that the store should use its one item per customer policy.

He said: “My wife visited to pick up some essential shopping as the store is close to home.

“While I know that these items are in short supply, it left us feeling that the store was exploiting the situation.

“They are normally sold for £1 so why increase the cost so dramatically? If it’s to stop panic buying, use the store one item per customer policy.”

However B&M bosses said that historically hand santiser stocks have come from big factories overseas - but that this supply has dried up as they are keeping it for their own countries for domestic use.

They said that this has forced the retailer to buy from smaller higher cost producers in the UK who charge double what is usually paid overseas.

They added that this means B&M is making less money than it normally does and went on to call for the government to remove VAT on essential products such as hand sanitsier and masks.

Moves from the government have seen the chancellor already waive duties and VAT on vital medical equipment including ventilators, coronavirus testing kits and protective clothing.