Morrisons staff ‘face abuse from customers’ who are turned away from suddenly closed shop

Staff at a flood-stricken Morrisons say they have faced abuse from customers who are being turned away from the closed market town shop.

The Ross-on-Wye branch of Morrisons had to close yesterday after part of the roof “gave” in and rainwater poured into the shop.

The Station Street store remains closed today (September 21) following yesterday’s torrential rain. But the filling station remains open to customers.

A notice on the door says the store has experienced some damage due to the weather and will not open until further notice.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and we are working hard to get this resolved as soon as possible.”

But a staff member said the shop will have to remain closed until it is safe for customers to return.

They said bosses have yet to reveal how long the closure will last but said the videos shared on social media make it look “worse than it is”.

“We have also faced abuse from some customers when we inform them the shop is closed,” they said.

Several customers were seen heading to the supermarket to do their shopping but were politely turned away.

Despite the store’s closure, the car park was well-used.

A town resident said “it shows how much the car park is used by people who are not shopping at Morrisons”.

Elsewhere in the town, Brookend Street is partially closed while Welsh Water undertakes remedial work.

The street is closed from the junction with Station Street until the access to Aldi. Access to the supermarket’s car park remains open.

Herefordshire Councils’ roads and regulatory services cabinet member Barry Durkin (C, Old Gore) was in Brookend Street overseeing the remedial work this morning.

He said the resurfacing that had previously been planned for the street will have to be pushed back.

Cllr Durking also said exploratory work of the drains will be undertaken to find out if there is an issue with them.

Longer term works will be needed to avoid this recurring problem, if a problem is found.

In May this year, Ross-on-Wye was hit with torrential rain which flooded Brookend Street and caused severe damage to Broad Street.

Despite the severe downpour yesterdary most of the town remains open for business.

Some shops on Brookend Street are open as usual as is Aldi.