AN MP says there should be a rule to make people wash their hands as they enter buildings to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking to The Argus, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, also branded the panic-buying of toilet roll “foolish”.

He spoke as shoppers across the city stocked up on hand sanitiser and loo roll and supermarket shelves lay bare.

At Asda in Brighton Marina, which is in Mr Russell-Moyle’s constituency, toilet roll and hand sanitiser were out of stock yesterday.

Meanwhile Boots has imposed a two-bottle limit on hand sanitiser and Tesco has announced it will restrict sales of certain items.

Mr Russell-Moyle said: “We shouldn’t be panic buying toilet roll but we should be taking this seriously.

“I don’t understand why people are buying toilet roll. It’s not like one of the symptoms in diarrhoea.

“It’s rather ridiculous. It’s almost laughable and slightly foolish.

“With soap and hand sanitisers, I understand there’s plenty of stock.

“But people should be realistic about how much they’re going to use.

“It makes no sense whatsoever.”

Mr Russell-Moyle said people should be obliged to wash their hands as they enter buildings.

He said: “I think in every single building, you should have to sanitise your hands.

“And there should be a regulation that every single person has to do it.

“If we’re to prevent the kind of lockdown we’ve seen in parts of Italy and China, we need to be serious about this.

“And I’ve asked the Health Secretary Matt Hancock about this in Parliament.”

Mr Russell-Moyle said the requirement should apply to private buildings and offices as well as restaurants and public buildings.

He said: “In restaurants, people are going through the building to the toilet. By then, they’ve already touched all the surfaces. And I’ve been into toilets where there is not adequate soap.

“In every restaurant there should be a sink at the entrance. It should be a requirement and not washing your hands should also become socially unacceptable.

“If this is the future, we need to get serious. I think the situation is generally being handled well.

“There is good strong advice but we need to follow this through with decent regulations.

“This will do far more than buying toilet roll. We shouldn’t be panic buying, but we should be taking this seriously.”

Health Secretary Mr Hancock said there is “absolutely no need for people to buy in excess” and the Government has supplies of the key items needed.