Boots has apologised after on Bank Holiday Monday (August 26).
The Boots store in Avon Meads Retail Park was the only pharmacy scheduled to remain open late in Bristol but it was mysteriously shut with seemingly no explanation.
With no pharmacies available in Bristol on Monday evening, residents were forced to travel to Weston-super-Mare to pick up vital prescriptions.
Boots has apologised for the inconvenience while the NHS said it is seeking an explanation 'as a matter of urgency'.
One patient, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she travelled from Filton to St Phillips because she was in a lot of pain with tonsillitis.
The mum-of-two rang ahead to make sure the pharmacy was open as advertised and began to worry when no one answered the phone.
She then called 111 to see if anywhere would serve her but the call handler assured her the pharmacy would be open.
Almost 20 minutes later, she arrived at the retail park only to find it was locked up and no one was inside.
"I called 111 back and they said my nearest place would be Weston," she said.
"I don't have a car and my dad doesn't travel on motorways so there was no way I could get there.
"I waited outside for around 15 minutes. During that time at least 20 people came to try and get their prescriptions. One woman was really worried because she needed medication for her elderly mum."
NHS England confirmed the pharmacy was meant to open on Monday and added it will be seeking an explanation from Boots.
“Boots Avon Meads Pharmacy was scheduled to be open on Monday (August 26), in line with the published rotas that patients rely on," a NHS spokesperson said.
"We are seeking an explanation from the pharmacy as a matter of urgency.”
Boots has apologised for the inconvenience caused, with a spokesperson saying: “We’re sorry that customers were disappointed to find our Avon Meads Boots store closed.
"We had updated our opening hours online and informed the NHS in preparation for the bank holiday so customers could be aware that the store was scheduled to open from 9am until 6pm.
"We will continue to work closely with the NHS and make sure our opening hours are clearer for future bank holidays.
"We hope our customers were able to obtain what they needed and we apologise for any inconvenience our bank holiday opening hours caused.”
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