Co-op urged to challenge people without face masks after Portsmouth shopper left astonished at company policy

Donna Hooper, from Anchorage Park, said she was horrified to see two men who were not wearing masks or visors shopping in the store in Copnor Road last week.

She said that after complaining to the store manager, she was astonished to learn that it is not company policy to challenge people without masks.

Donna said: ‘I was lost for words. Not only is this mandatory and all shops have this in place, it protects staff and customers.

‘Then I look on the website and see there is an elderly hour, so the most vulnerable people in our community are in there, thinking it is safe but surrounded by people without face masks on. I am absolutely fuming about this.'

Donna has written to Co-op’s head office as she fears it is encouraging people who don’t want to wear masks to shop in there.

She added: ‘I am absolutely disgusted with the Co-op. It really makes me mad that the minority of their customers are the elderly as they shop local and they are not looking after them.’

A spokeswoman from the Co-op said that colleagues had been asked not to challenge people for fear of ‘conflict’ amid a rise in the numbers of assaults on shop staff.

She said: ‘Our store colleagues have worked extremely hard throughout the pandemic to make sure our stores stay open for their local communities.

‘We take the health of our colleagues and customers extremely seriously and have put in place a range of Covid safety measures for their protection including our colleagues wearing face coverings, installing till point hygiene screens, social distancing signage, prioritising cleaning and hygiene routines, and monitoring and controlling the number of customers in stores at any one time.

SEE ALSO: Southern Co-op workers call for end to violent assaults and abuse against their staff

‘Ensuring our colleague safety also means not putting them at risk of abuse, assault or violence which has sadly seen an increase throughout this pandemic.

‘This is unacceptable and for this reason we have asked colleagues not to challenge customers who are not wearing face coverings, given the potential risk of conflict.

‘We are also acutely aware that some customers are unable to wear face coverings for health reasons and this is indeed the case for some of our colleagues, who wear a pin badge to identify themselves to customers.’

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