Coronavirus: Peterborough OAP’s anger at ‘chaos’ during Asda opening hours for the elderly

Christine Roberts (71) of Westerley Close, Westwood, visited the supermarket by Rivergate at 7am with her partner, her daughter and her daughter’s mother-in-law who was getting out for the first time in three weeks since having treatment for cancer.

Asda had set aside 7am until 9am on Friday for its stores across the country to be dedicated for the most vulnerable, but there was no formal ban on other customers coming in.

And according to Christine people of all ages were soon following her into the shop to grab what they could, while allegedly being aggressive towards members of staff.

She told the Peterborough Telegraph: “Asda said it was open for OAPs and the vulnerable between 7am and 9am. But we got in and everyone came in afterwards. Every Tom, Dick and Harry came in.

“And people were abusing the staff. I found one lady crying. This should not be happening.

“People were just being greedy. There were lots of shelves empty and people did get annoyed when they couldn’t get what they wanted.

“I don’t normally shop at Asda but they said we can go in early. We’ve been told the shops will not be empty but they are.

“My daughter said it was horrendous and will never go again. I won’t be going back.”

Nichola Wells was also at Asda this morning. She said: “It’s a joke. Now my weekly shop is £150 with five kids.

“I just got my normal shop which is a trolly full and people were glaring at me. I had to explain it’s my weekly shop and that’s it due to having five kids.

“My niece who is a nurse is doing 12 hours a day at the minute and so when she goes shopping there is nothing left. How is she supposed to look after herself and do her job when she is barely eating herself?”

Responding to people who are not elderly or vulnerable shopping before 9am, an Asda 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. The list defined by the Government can be found here.”

How have you found food shopping in Peterborough this week? Please let us know either on social media or by emailing [email protected].