PrintWeek received numerous calls in the lead-up to the Christmas period from printers who had not received toner cartridges.

Several have since reported that their toner arrived over Christmas, while a spokesman for Xerox said that the problem had "vastly improved".

He said: "Back orders are only about 13% of what they were before Christmas. The weather had an impact but wait time is coming down all the time. We expect it to be resolved at the end of the month."

The spokesman maintained that the problem was down to a growth in demand for the toner, despite claims from printers that cited various different reasons, including panic buying caused by the initial story in PrintWeek, were responsible for the problem.

Peter Wise, managing director of Minuteman Press in Bristol, said: "There is still a major supply problem. We have to fight for every toner package that comes through. Old orders are being cancelled and we are being told that we shouldn't holder toner cartridges for more than two weeks."

One printer said that the current problem appeared to be mainly with magenta cartridges, which were missing from his last two orders. Another company also received four yellow cartridges and no other colours.

Peter Vincent, head of technical services at the BPIF, said: "Xerox is not prepared to give us precise figures on the problem and we still haven't obtained a reason for it. We took at face value that it would be over by Christmas so we will have to wait and see."