Hurricane Irma: Amazon refutes claims it's price gouging bottled water

Amazon said lower priced offers were quickly selling out due to a spike in demand, which was leaving higher priced offers from third party sellers

Customers took to social media earlier this week to complain about the lack of cheap water available on the website (Reuters)

Amazon has hit back at claims that it is inflating prices of water sold in areas that are likely to be hit by Hurricane Irma.

Several news sites over the last day have reported that the Seattle-based e-retail giant had been price gouging.

But on Thursday a spokesperson for Amazon said that any spike in prices of essential goods had been beyond its control.

"We do not engage in surge pricing and product prices do not fluctuate by region or delivery location,” a spokesperson told The Independent.

“We are actively monitoring our website and removing offers on bottled water that substantially exceed the recent average sales price.”

The spokesperson also said that prices had not widely fluctuated in the last month, but that lower priced offers were quickly selling out due to a spike in demand. That, in turn, was leaving higher priced offers from third party sellers.

“If customers think an offer has substantially increased in price we encourage them to contact Amazon customer service directly and work with us so we can investigate and take the appropriate action."

Customers took to social media earlier this week to complain about the lack of cheap water available on the website.

Price gouging on essential items during emergencies is reportedly illegal in parts of the US.

Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, has so far killed at least 10 people across a number of Caribbean islands.

Florida is on high alert and has ordered evacuations, while the Carolinas and Georgia have also declared emergencies.