Tesco have spoken out following a surge in demand from online shoppers for their Christmas delivery slots.

The supermarket chain released the delivery slots for groceries at 7am this morning (Friday, November 13) on their website, and swiftly activated a 'virtual queueing system' to manage the high demand from customers.

What has the reaction been from shoppers?

Many took to social media to share their frustration after being forced to wait for more than an hour in order to book a slot.

One Twitter user said: "What an absolute joke. Been a delivery customer for years, have delivery saver. Went on at 6.45 (slots were open when we had been told they would open at 7??) been in the queue for 2 hours and 20 minutes. What is happening? Should I just shop elsewhere this Christmas?"

Another Twitter user posted: "Would be helpful to actually see that you are a number of number in the Q. I know other supermarkets do this. I have to say Tesco your online technology is behind other supermarkets. Been waiting for over an hour."

Another user on Twitter shared their disappointment, they said: "I’ve been waiting since 6.58am & just been booted out of the app. I am a loyal delivery saver customer and a key worker. Not being able to book a Christmas delivery slot has huge implications for me. I am not impressed."

The supermarket chain quickly responded to concerns from shoppers over their 'virtual queueing system' with a short statement on Twitter. It read: "We’re currently seeing a high number of visits to our website and app so are temporarily limiting the number of people using it.

"Please wait and keep the website/app open and you’ll be put through automatically. We’re sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience."

What did Tesco say?

Following the incident, a Tesco spokesperson told us: “Demand for online slots over the festive period is high, and we have more slots this Christmas than ever before.

"We experienced high volumes of traffic to our website and Groceries app this morning and temporarily limited the number of customers using it.

"We've now removed the waiting room and customers will be able to log straight on.

"We're sorry for any inconvenience this caused and would like to reassure customers that there are still slots available for home delivery and Click+Collect over the Christmas period."