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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Kristian Johnson

Morrisons slammed for crowded aisles and huge checkout queues at Leeds stores

Several Morrisons customers have complained about an alleged lack of social distancing measures at stores in Leeds.

People have claimed that there were no queues to limit the number of people allowed inside both the Hunslet and Bramley stores over recent days, leading to crowded aisles inside.

One woman explained how there were "30 or 40 people" on each aisle and that the queues for the checkouts stretched all the way to the back of the store,

In response, a spokesperson for Morrisons told LeedsLive that staff only begin to limit customer numbers once the store reaches a certain capacity.

Customers at the Hunslet and Bramley stores have expressed concerns about the number of people allowed instore at the same time (2020 Getty Images)

Donna Gregson, 47, said that she visited the Bramley store on Friday, May 8, and although the queues had been managed well on her previous visits, she was left feeling "uncomfortable" after being allowed to walk straight in.

She said: "It wasn't too bad to start with, but now they are just letting anybody and everybody go in at once.

"There were 30 or 40 people on each aisle at the same time. It made me feel very uncomfortable because you have to wait for them to go past.

"The queue for the checkouts went right back to the butcher section."

Martin Hughes visited the Hunslet store a day later and says he was surprised to see nobody monitoring the queues outside.

The 61-year-old hasn't seen his wife for two months as she is in an extremely vulnerable category, but he has had to continue working as a lorry driver.

"It's what happens inside that bothers me," he said. "People are leaning over you to get stuff."

Theresa Williamson, from Belle Isle, also shopped at the Hunslet store last week.

'It was like a normal Saturday afternoon'

"There was no one there to stop anyone going in," said the 53-year-old.

"It was like a normal Saturday afternoon in there. There were too many people.

There were just people popping up next to me and there was no one-way system.

"I wouldn't go back to Morrisons now."

Morrisons say they have a staggered entry system with marshals stationed at the main entrance to limit customer numbers, but only when capacity is reached.

Stickers and signs are also placed throughout Morrisons stores to remind customers of the social distancing measures, while regular tannoy announcements are made to remind customers of the new rules.

This week, an Aldi customer phoned police after being left "flabbergasted" by the scenes at his local Aldi store in Bramley.

"I've contacted West Yorkshire Police because in my eyes it's an incident," he said. "If the same thing was happening in the park it would be an incident.

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