Morrisons criticised over no manned tills in Totton store

Stewart Hall, 69, from Marchwood said he felt "embarrassed and humiliated" after being forced to use the self-checkouts helped by staff.

Stewart suffers from a severe tremor and struggles to carry out small tasks such as unlocking a door or typing on a keyboard.

The tremor is often made worse by stressful situations and can affect Stewart’s voice and balance.

When he visited the Totton store on Saturday afternoon (November 4), he complained to the manager for the lack of manned tills only to be told to 'take it up with the head office'.

The retired police sergeant claims the manager also told him 'it's not my problem'.

Morrisons says complaints like these are taken "very seriously".

Stewart is unable to use the self checkout due to his tremor (Image: Stewart Hall)

'I was annoying other people'

Stewart said: “Despite not being able to use a self-checkout due to my tremor, I queued up and asked the girl assisting the self-checkout to help me.

“I had to wait for the shop worker to help me which was annoying other people waiting to use the checkout – this resulted in my tremor getting worse with me feeling more anxious.

“After the experience was over, I went to the customer service desk to explain to the manager that people with disabilities need a manned till – I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I just had.

“I felt embarrassed and humiliated after annoying the people waiting behind me and segregated by Morrisons for not having disabled facilities in place."

At this point Stewart's tremor had gotten so severe, the trolley he was holding onto was shaking.

Stewart added: “The manager came out and asked: 'What’s your problem then?' To which I explained the shop should have people on the till for disabled and elderly customers that can't use a self service checkout.

“The manager then replied, 'Take it up with head office' and 'It’s not my job'.

“Thankfully a kind member of the public also came to my side which I’m so grateful for.”

'I felt compelled to step in'

Aaron Marshall, 35, was also in the store at the time and overheard Stewart’s comments.

The Navy officer said: “The store does not support those that can’t use the self-checkout at all.

“After the manager kept resorting to 'it’s not my problem' I explained that as store manager, it absolutely was his problem, and he was responsible for making sure his store accommodates for those with disabilities.

“The way Stewart was treated by the manager, after already going through a difficult experience, was absolutely appalling – that’s why I felt compelled to step in.”

A spokesperson from Morrisons said: “We take complaints such as this very seriously and are in touch with the customer directly.

“We have reassured them that we will always have colleagues around to support and operate serviced tills if that is what they require."