A trade embargo imposed by authorities in Pristina has led to severe shortages of food and medicine among ethnic Serbs living in northern Kosovo, media reports said on Sunday.

Suppliers from Serbia have been unable to deliver bread and milk to the towns of Lesak, Leposavic and northern Mitrovica, the Belgrade-based Beta news agency reported.

Shops in the towns were also on the verge of selling out of meat and sugar products and customers have been stockpiling flour and yeast, it added.

Supplies of bottled water were also running low, while doctors at the main health centre in the major town of Mitrovica expressed concern over shortages of medicine, the Beta said.

Long queues could also be seen at petrol stations throughout northern Kosovo.

However a NATO-led peacekeeping mission said in a press release that the situation in the north and the rest of Kosovo was calm.

The report came after the mainly ethnic Albanian government in Pristina decided earlier this month to implement a new ban on imports from Serbia, as they suspected ethnic Serb officers of turning a blind eye.

In the ensuing clashes with local Serbs at the border, one Kosovar police officer was killed and four others hurt.

NATO peacekeepers subsequently took control of the border crossings, which have been effectively closed since Thursday.

But Serbian state television RTS reported Sunday that one of the crossings had been reopened to allow private cars to pass -- but not trucks.

There were no reports of shortages in the rest of Kosovo, which is not as heavily reliant on Serbian imports.

Belgrade and Pristina have been holding EU-mediated talks to resolve some of the practical issues between the two entities including freedom of movement and trade.

They are scheduled to restart in September -- but Kosovo's interior minister Bajram Rexhepi told Serbian news agency Tanjug Sunday that Pristina was ready to resume the talks in Brussels tomorrow if need be.

"The sooner the better for everyone," he said.

Serbia banned imports from Kosovo immediately after it had declared independence from Belgrade in 2008. Pristina's decision to retaliate caught many by surprise.

More than 90 percent of Kosovo's imported food comes from Serbia, one of its main suppliers with goods totalling 260 million euros ($370 million) a year.

Serbia's parliament held an extraordinary session on Saturday, calling for a peaceful solution to be found through a dialogue, but warning on a danger of a fresh conflict.

Belgrade and the Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority have never recognised the government in Pristina.