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A disabled shopper has shared his frustration after being left in a “perilous” situation whilst shopping at a Tesco. David Gosling, 83, was at the Newmarket Road superstore, Cambridgeshire, on Wednesday, August 9, when staff at the shop failed to help him after his buggy got stuck at the checkout. 

According to CambridgeshireLive, the Cambridge resident, who has vertigo, arrived at the store at around 8pm. When he got there, he said there were no places for disabled vehicles or trolleys available outside the store. He used a disability buggy to do his shopping, but when he approached the checkout, it got jammed across the lane entrance.

He claims that nobody came to his aid and that staff said they were “too busy” when asked.

He added: “I managed to pay for my purchases and put them into bags but I needed the buggy to get them to the door, which was quite a distance away. I managed to carry my bags with great difficulty, although the seats which used to be in this corridor had been taken away, making the journey to the door more difficult and quite perilous for me.

“Having reached the door I felt my balance giving way but there was nowhere to sit even when I asked staff for help, they had nothing to offer. I eventually had to suffer the indignity of shouting at the top of my voice to my friend who was in his car parked some distance away, who then came to rescue me before I lost my balance.

“This is a shocking incident which reflects poorly on the competence and cooperation of their staff.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are really sorry to hear about this. We want everyone to feel welcome at Tesco and we have measures in place to help ensure that customers with disabilities can shop with us comfortably including accessible parking spaces, wheelchairs and Motability scooters.

“Our colleagues are also on hand to offer assisted shopping to those who need it. The team at our Newmarket Road Superstore have reached out to the customer to look into what happened.”

Since then the store manager has spoken to Mr Gosling by phone and has offered to meet him to further apologise and ensure the store meets any needs going forward. Mr Gosling, a part-time supervisor at Cambridge University, said he discussed re-adding chairs and making sure staff are better aware of the needs of customers who may have hidden disabilities.

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