Heading to the supermarket during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak can be stressful. And now, parents are accusing major chains of turning them away for bringing their children.
Taking to social media, several parents have been tweeting the likes of Aldi, Sainsbury's and Asda, furious that they were unable to enter the store with their kids.
One person wrote: "@sainsburys so when did you decide to stop allowing children into your stores? Absolutely disgusted by the security staff and service at Charcot road nw9 store.
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"I was refused entry with my son and security told me to leave my 7yr old outside ALONE! I am a single parent! #stress."
While another tweeted: "@AldiUK since when did you stop children going into your shops? My daughter tried to go shopping today with her 5 year old daughter but was told she couldn't go in with her daughter.
"She's a single mother what is she supposed to do with her? I am beyond angry."
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Some parents explained that after making the journey to their supermarket, they were unable to enter as they couldn't leave their children outside.
"A friend visited @AldiUK this morning & has been told that she has to leave her 4 kids at the front of the store whilst she does her essential food shop.
"She's a single mom & has no choice but to take her kids shopping as she has nobody to look after them."
To clarify the situation, Tyla reached out to all major supermarkets across the country to understand their policies regarding children.
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Tesco explained they had not banned children from stores, but in line with government guidelines are encouraging customers to shop with no more than one other person.
They emphasised, however, that if shoppers did need to bring children with them, they can.
Waitrose, who also said they are not banning children from stores, told Tyla: "In line with the government's guidance on social distancing, we're asking customers to help us manage the number of people in our shops - by sending only one member of the household to do their shopping, if they possibly can.
"While this won't be possible for everybody, we are very grateful for our customers' support in this difficult situation."
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Sainsbury's clarified that children are allowed in stores while Asda explained it is also, not banning children from its supermarkets. In a Facebook post, Asda said: "As you know everyone in the UK is being asked by the Government to shop sensibly and only when required. Where needed, we are limiting the total number of shoppers we allow into a store at any one time.
"If possible, it would help us greatly if you could bring fewer family members when visiting our stores. This will help us maintain social distancing guidelines we already have in place."
Tyla has also reached out to Lidl, Aldi and Morrisons.
Topics: Life News, Coronavirus, Parenting
