PUB chain JD Wetherspoon has apologised for “temporary issues” after a national shortage left some diners without eggs.

The Moon in the Square in Bournemouth was among Wetherspoon venues serving up substitute breakfast items on Tuesday, November 22, as supplies were disrupted.

Customer David Graham said the pub ran out of eggs yesterday morning and that staff said there had been a “problem with deliveries for days”.

A JD Wetherspoon spokesperson said: “We can confirm that there are temporary issues with egg supplies at some Wetherspoon pubs, due to the current national shortage of eggs.

“We are experiencing issues in receiving all the supplies we require to satisfy demand in every pub.

“This is not specific to Wetherspoon and other hospitality operators and supermarkets are facing similar issues.

“At the pubs concerned, customers are being offered alternative items, for example, hash brown, sausage or onion rings where eggs are unavailable.

“We apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”

The worst ever wave of bird flu, coupled with rising costs, has led to problems with egg supplies.

On Tuesday, Tesco followed Asda and Lidl in limiting the number of boxes of eggs customers can buy.

It said the limit would be three boxes per customer as a precautionary measure.

The National Farmers’ Union has called for an urgent investigation into the supply disruption.

Its president, Minette Batters, said: “There are a huge range of issues facing the poultry sector, in particular within the egg supply chain, which have built up over months and which we have been warning of for some time. Energy price inflation and supply chain disruption have added to the worst outbreak in avian influenza yet. However, these pressures alone cannot explain empty shelves.”

She said the NFU had raised concerns about the “functionality of the supply chain” several months ago with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

“The NFU raised concerns about the functionality of the supply chain with Defra a number of months ago in the hope of avoiding the situation we have now, with some retailers having to limit UK consumers’ access to eggs,” she said.

Defra has said it is working with the industry to monitor the egg market, but that “we are not expecting any significant impact to the overall supply”.