Ingredients fly off shelves ahead of cookalong

West Midlands sales of scallops, steaks and spuds soared ahead of Gordon Ramsay's cookalong tonight.

Foodies are battling to get their hands on the ingredients before Ramsay shows how to put them together in a live show at 9pm.

The celebrity chef will cook a three-course meal of pan-roasted scallops with tomato and herb salsa, steak and chips and chocolate mousse.

Wolverhampton's Asda today enjoyed the knock-on effects of Ramsay fever. Ian Twells, provisions manager of the store next to Molineux, said many customers asked about ingedients needed for the cook-along since they were listed on the internet.

"We have been sold out of scallops for a week now - there has been a real boom ever since the recipe went on-line," he said. "People have been inquiring about the ingredients featured on Gordon's menu."Carol Hitch, of Fallings Park, was today picking up her sirloin steak at Asda ahead of tonight's challenge.

"I'm really looking forward to it," she said. "I think it will be a challenge but should be lots of fun. I'm surprised by how busy the store is so early in the day and think Gordon is probably playing a part in that."

Sue Giddings, of Wombourne, was also buying steak ready and said she was looking forward to cooking along with the Michelin-starred chef.

Ashley Hill, food manager at Marks & Spencer, Park Street, Walsall, said today that while sales of steaks had gone well this week, scallops were only on the shelves at Christmas.

He said: "We have recently launched our new ingredients range as a result of the growing popularity of TV reality cooking programmes introduced by chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay. We now stock spices to help people who want to prepare dishes from scratch."

In the past fortnight, sales of frozen scallops have soared by 600 per cent in Waitrose.

Waitrose frozen food buyer Sally Brooks said: "With the programme's producers encouraging customers to cook along from home, it certainly appears that people aren't taking any chances and are ensuring their fridges and freezers are stocked up."