Local potato crop mashed

SUPERMARKETS are being forced to import potatoes after the summer heatwave hit supplies.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda have been stocking produce from as far afield as Israel to supplement the crop currently being harvested in the UK.

Britain is usually 95 per cent self-sufficient in spuds.

But growers are predicting a poor harvest after a difficult planting season in the cold spring followed by the hottest summer for 40 years.

Cheshire-based trader Bryan Alcock told The Grocer magazine: “The extreme heat stopped potatoes putting on weight.”