Mark Harvey placed a steadying hand on his overflowing trolley. "We're buying 50 bottles of sparkling mineral water to drink and 50 bottles of the still stuff which can also be used to bathe in if things get really bad."
His wife, Elisabeth, hovered unsteadily into view around the supermarket shelves, carrying a generous armful of dried foods. "We draw the line at gas masks, though," she said, unsuccessfully looking for space in the trolley. "If nothing happens, we'll use the mineral water up in the natural course of a few dinner parties and pasta is always useful. Buying gas masks, now, that's another matter -- that would be the mark of real hysteria."
From raiding supermarkets to renting places in underground bunkers, Britain is demonstrating a pessimism that has alarmed politicians anxious to avoid a recession generated by panic.
With news of the US decision to ground its 5,000 crop-dusting aircraft because of fears that terrorists were planning to use them for biological warfare, Army surplus stores reported that the demand for gas masks, protective clothing and ration packs was reaching unprecedented levels, with staff being inundated with inquiries.
In recent days, the panic has shown little sign of subsiding, a point underlined by British Prime Minister Tony Blair's request at a Downing Street press conference for people to go shopping and take holidays to prevent the economy going into recession.
Recent figures show Blair is right to worry: the numbers of those taking flights and holidays are down by about a fifth, although the smaller, budget airlines such as Ryanair, which lured passengers by offering seats at bargain-basement prices, say they are now back to normal.
Some businesses are doing better. Domestic tourism, still bearing the scars of the foot-and-mouth crisis, is braced for a mini boom -- coastal areas, in particular, are thriving.
Mark Parrish, owner of the Kelvedon Hatch nuclear bunker in Essex, south-east England, is also looking forward to a windfall: offering places in his wartime bunker for up to 150 people at US$44,000 each, he is preparing to hold eight interviews in the next week and is already looking forward to spending the money.
"This is a serious situation and a real offer of help," he said. "The money I get will, by necessity, have to be spent quickly because if war does strike, it won't be much good to me then."
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