Another slice of life as Facebook detectives track down Penistone's mysterious loafer

Shoppers in Penistone were left without their daily bread when someone bulk bought 17 loaves from the village shop, along with six bags of salt.

Other shoppers had to be rationed, until more stocks arrived.

No-one knows for sure who bought all the loaves… but a Facebook group dedicated to finding him has now collected 750 members.

The group, calling itself "Do you know who bought 17 loaves of bread in Penistone?" has thoughtfully provided a mugshot of what they believe the loaf lover might look like - cunningly disguised but easily recognisable in a bread balaclava.

Locals say that every time there is a cold snap in the South Yorkshire village, people start panic buying bread and milk for fear of being snowed in.

Lee Meller, owner of SK's Cafe, said he had to shut last week because he couldn't get any bread from the supermarkets. He had to make a 30 mile round trip to stock up.

Mr Meller said: "I heard people weren't even waiting until the bread was on the shelves at the Spar. They were grabbing it from the pallets outside and running up to the counter to pay for it.

"It's always like this in Penistone, anyone mentions snow and people immediately begin to panic buy.

"Apparently they were doling out the bread to people in the Spar, I heard they lined them up and passed their bread to them - like they couldn't be trusted to get it themselves.

"I heard somebody bought 17 loaves of bread – even we don't use that much."

The Facebook group has drawn comments from as far away as Australia. At least two people have claimed to be the phantom bread lover, with one asking where he could find 24 jars of marmalade and another claiming he would live on beans and toast for the next two years.