Grant Denyer expresses fury as two busloads of Sydney vultures “raid” supermarkets in Bathurst
TV presenter Grant Denyer has expressed his outrage after witnessing panic-buyers from Sydney travelling to regional cities “by the busload” to stock up on food and supplies.
The Dancing With The Stars host claims to have seen a gang of coronavirus preppers “raiding” supermarkets in his hometown of Bathurst, 200km west of Sydney.
The same group reportedly targeted two other central west NSW cities, Orange and Lithgow, before returning to Sydney.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Grant wrote: “This is crazy. We live in Bathurst and we had two busloads of people from Sydney storm the town and raid our three supermarkets. Which were already depleted.
“They also hit Orange and Lithgow. Geez guys, chill. If we’re patient, there’s plenty for everyone. We have enough food supplies in Australia.
“You don’t need to buy for two years, just a couple of weeks. Let’s get through this together, with patience, kindness and resilience.”
One woman on Twitter, who lives in a small town with a population of 1500 people about 100km from Melbourne, revealed that people in buses arrived on Tuesday.
“Yesterday four tour buses arrived from Melbourne and 200 people descended on our supermarket and stripped the shelves of everything. Not. One. Foodstuff. Left,” she wrote.
Riddells Creek Foodworks, between Melbourne and Bendigo, wrote on Facebook it would have “no other choice but to enforce very strict conditions for entry into our store.”
“You will now be asked for ID proof that you live in the following areas – Riddells Creek, Clarkfield, Monegeetta, Bolinda, Romsey, Lancefield, Sunbury Riddell Road up to and including Settlement Road (from Riddells Creek End), Gisborne, New Gisborne, Cherokee,” it said.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause. Unfortunately, due to the current situation, we can only accommodate customers living in these areas.”
Grant resides in Bathurst with his wife, Chezzi, and daughters, Scout and Sailor. He commutes to Melbourne on Sundays to film Dancing With The Stars.
The future of the show is looking uncertain after contestant Christian Wilkins was tested for COVID-19 as a precaution following his father Richard’s diagnosis.
Producers had already banned members of the public from the audience, meaning the dancers performed to an empty studio on March 15.
While on his flight home last week, Grant wrote on Instagram: “Bye bye, Melbourne. It was magnificent filming in the home of @dancingon10. I hope I get to return again next week. Although who really knows what’s going to happen?”