Hot weather proves too much for supermarket chillers

Saturday 04 July 2015

Shoppers were left out in the cold on the hottest day of the year when one of our biggest supermarkets had a problem with its freezers.

While the company was out and about keeping people cool and giving out water and ice to athletes and spectators at the NatWest Island Games staff at Waitrose at Longueville were busy chucking away food when most of their chillers broke down on Tuesday afternoon.

Aisles were blocked off and shoppers couldn't get hold of meat, milk, yogurt and a whole host of other chilled food. 

The meat, fish and cheese counters at the back of the store were also bare as staff worked for hours to fix the problem with the cooling system.

Branch Manager at Waitrose St Saviour Duncan Langston said: "Our freezers in our St Saviour branch were out of action for a period yesterday afternoon (30th June) but are now in full working order.

"The problem was rectified by the early evening and, although some products were destroyed as a safety precaution, the quick actions of our Partners ensured these were kept to a minimum. We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding."

The company said they had the same problem a couple of years ago because of the extreme heat.