SHOPPERS were shocked to see a small bottle of hand sanitiser being sold for £10.

But the manager at Budgens in Rottingdean said prices had shot up for stores as demand for the product increases.

Shops in Brighton and Hove have seen shelves left barren in the last week as customers panic-buy supplies of hand sanitiser, toilet roll, pasta and more as further cases of coronavirus are confirmed.

One shopper spotted a small number of 100 millilitre bottles of Enliven Hand Gel being sold for £10.00 at the Budgens store in High Street, Rottingdean.

Another customer said they were "disgusted" to see this price hike, saying most stores sell the item for 99p.

National retailer The Range lists the item for £1.49 on its website but says it is sold out of the product.

Many other websites including Amazon, are also sold out of the item.

As a result, the price of the hand gel has been raised, the manager of the Rottingdean Budgens store said. 

She said: "We got it for £8.50 on Friday, they (wholesalers) were selling for a higher price as well.

"We sourced it for a higher price so we sold it for a higher price.

There were just five left. We gave three away as (a gesture of) good will to local people who are regular customers and are elderly."

She said the store was no longer selling the items. 

A spokeswoman for Budgens said all stores were "independently owned and operated".