A TERMINALLY ill woman has spoken of her dismay after her experience of shopping at Asda this morning. 

The 53-year-old Bradford woman, who did not wish to be named, decided to take advantage of the supermarket's request to allow vulnerable customers time to shop before 9am. 

But, she says she was told the store had let everyone in because they had become so "aggressive and violent". 

"I was absolutely disgusted and shocked," she said.

"This is a war, and if we don't try and help each other out we are not going to survive it.

"Unfortunately this society has become to divided and separated over the years and become so selfish."

The woman said other people had said the scenes were "disturbing". 

"I think the supermarkets are doing a fantastic job trying to do this, but they need support from the Government."

She said she felt the army or police should be drafted in to help out, or some measures put in place. 

Another reader said a similar thing had happened at the Shipley Asda this morning. 

An Asda spokesperson said it asked yesterday for customers who are not in the ‘vulnerable groups’ laid out by the Government to wait until after 9am to do their shopping

A spokesperson said: "We are asking those customers who know they aren’t in these group categories to not shop at this time and let these vulnerable groups have access and to shop responsibly.

"There are enough essential items to go around."

HELPFUL INFORMATION 

Tesco

As of March 19, Tesco has implemented some changes in store.

These changes include: 

  • Storewide restriction of only 3 items per customer on every product line
  • Removing multi-buy promotions
  • Closing all meat, fish, deli counters and salad bars
  • All stores will close at 10.00pm
  • Introducing some distancing measures at the checkout
  • Asking customers to pay by card if possible
  • Encouraging customers who shop online or Click+Collect to come into stores where possible to free up delivery slots for those having to self-isolate
  • Prioritising one hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning between 9.00 and 10.00am for elderly and vulnerable customers

Aldi

Store opening hours will change slightly with stores closing at 8pm from today. Sunday opening hours will remain the same

They have increased orders from suppliers and warehouses have sufficient stock to replenish all stores. This includes all of the essentials such as sanitary and baby products.

They are discouraging people from buying more than they need. Customers are currently limited to buying four items of any one product during each visit.

They will also be encouraging social distancing at checkouts and asking customers to pay with card where possible.

Sainsbury’s

From Monday, March 23, Sainsbury's customers who are classed as vulnerable and those over 70 will be given priority for online delivery slots.

Iceland

Iceland outlets across the country have introduced reserved time slots to give the vulnerable and the elderly a chance to shop in store.

These slots vary from store to store – please contact your local Iceland branch to find out what times are available.

Morrison’s

Morrison’s have introduced temporary purchase limits on products where there is high demand, so they remain available for longer for more customers to buy

The supermarket has not made any widespread changes to their opening times yet, but shoppers can check their local stores opening hours online.

Co-op

Co-op haven’t made changes to their opening times, but are restricting purchases to two per customer on some products, including hand sanitiser, soap, tinned goods, pasta, rice, long-life milk, sugar, baby food and nappies.

Asda

Asda customers can only buy up to three of any product across all food items, toiletries and cleaning products.

They will be temporarily closing non-essential services this week (e.g. cafes and pizza counters) to free up space in warehouses and capacity for restocking.

They will be temporarily closing 24 hour stores between 12am and 6am for restocking.

Home delivery drivers are equipped with sanitizer spray so service remains clean and hygienic.

If self-isolating, customers can advise when placing online order and tell us where they would like us to leave their order. Drivers will then wear disposable gloves when delivering orders and use bags to deliver shopping, rather than plastic totes.

Lidl

There are no current changes to opening hours in Lidl’s UK stores. Lidl have now limited the sale of products including household essentials, cleaning products, pasta rice and tinned goods to four items per customer.