Next closes website less than two hours after reopening to customers amid influx of orders

The online retailer had only reopened on Tuesday morning

(PA)

Next has been forced to shut down its online store less than two hours after reopening, having met its daily order limit by 8.30am.

The clothing retailer was back in business at 7am on Tuesday, having been closed for several weeks over staff safety concerns in relation to the coronavirus.

A statement on its website said that strict measures had now been introduced so staff could practice social distancing in warehouses, and as a result they could reopen for sales.

One of the measures included placing a daily limit on how many orders could be taken so that employees working to dispatch them weren’t compromising on safety.

On Tuesday 14 April it began taking orders for children’s clothing and small homewares again but was forced to close till Wednesday morning after meeting capacity quickly.

In a statement on the home page of the website, it says: "We're open again tomorrow.

"In order to operate our warehouse safely, we are limiting the number of warehouse colleagues working at any time, and so we will limit the number of customer orders we can take each day.

"We have successfully tested opening and taking a limited number of orders today. Please come back again tomorrow morning."

In the meantime customers can still browse the website and add items to their wishlist, but cannot make any purchases. "We’re sorry about this, and hope that you’ll understand," continues the statement.

Other e-tailers, including ASOS, have been forced to deny that warehouse conditions are unsafe during the ongoing outbreak.

The GMB Union accused ASOS of "playing Russian roulette with people's lives" by not enforcing social distancing measures in their warehouse in Barnsley, where up to 500 people can be on-site at any one time.

But a spokesperson for ASOS told the BBC they totally refuted the claim and it was creating "panic and hysteria" for workers.

The news comes amid ongoing uncertainty for Britain's high-street; department store Debenhams fell into administration earlier this month.

The company’s 165 stores will initially continue to trade but 50 have been earmarked for closure within three to five years, putting around 4,000 jobs at risk.