THERE is light at the end of the tunnel for shoppers desperate for the soon-to-be-extinct 100W bulbs.
Macclesfield residents have been panic buying bulbs as many stores begin phasing them out ahead of new EU legislation – but Silk Town DIY boss Chris Gardiner still has hundreds for sale.
Chris, 42, who runs The Paint Pot, on Brocklehurst Way, Tytherington, and Vikings on Grove Arcade, Wilmslow, said: "Everyone has been panic buying and the papers keep saying there’s none left, but I’ve got loads."
Chris has about 600 bulbs in Macclesfield and a thousand at his Wilmslow site.
The conventional bulbs are set to disappear from shop shelves in favour of greener, low-energy alternatives.
Dad-of-two Chris added: "I do approve of green bulbs, and we do sell them, but I’m concerned for people like the elderly who may struggle to adjust.
"I’ll be selling them for as long as I can – or until we run out!"
Hundreds of leading supermarkets and DIY chains – including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Homebase – have already sold their last remaining bulbs.
Ministers claim the switch will reduce carbon dioxide by around five million tons each year.
Under a voluntary government scheme to force people to buy greener compact fluorescent lights, retailers stopped replenishing supplies of conventional incandescent 100W bulbs at the start of the new year.
The EU will impose a ban on sales of 100W bulbs from September, and agreed last month to phase out all traditional incandescent bulbs by 2012.
