... and there’s an extra £5m for lorry drivers

OCADO will spend up to £5m extra this year in pay rises and signing-on bonuses for lorry drivers.

The online grocer said the shortage, caused by Brexit and the pandemic, has become an increasingly important issue.

It called on the Government to add HGV drivers to the skilled shortage list to fill the vacancies hitting supply chains across the country.

Ocado chairman and cofounder Tim Steiner said increasing the number of testers would be a solution.

He said: ‘What is clear is that there is a shortage and it seems to have been significantly exacerbated by the lack of testing that went on while testing facilities were closed or restricted during the Covid period.

‘We wouldn’t want the shortage to be addressed by putting unqualified or dangerous drivers on the road, but we do need as a country to address the shortage.’