A MORRISONS eco campaign has plunged chilly shoppers into darkness in loos and left others unable to read product labels in gloomy stores.
Customers complained they needed head torches and ski gear to brave Arctic conditions after chain bosses cut heating and lighting in a drive to become carbon neutral.
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And one told how his wife was forced to struggle out of a toilet cubicle by torchlight after being blacked out by the energy-saving measures.
The cut-price chain expanded a “Quieter Hours” scheme last year in a bid to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2035.
But chiefs were forced to abandon the drive at a string of branches nationwide yesterday following a barrage of complaints.
Morrisons said lighting was dimmed on a trial basis to mimic energy levels used during “Quieter Hours” periods, which help autistic shoppers with reduced sensory needs.
Staff were ordered to turn off piped music, checkout beeps and PA announcements to provide a calm shopping environment and the drive was extended last October.
But a u-turn was performed after a shopper in Rochester, Kent, complained the lights at his local Morrisons were turned off while his wife was in the loo leaving struggle out with a pocket torch.
Mark Morris, said: “Went to Morrisons today, they turned the lights off in the toilets half an hour before closing, just to save a few Bob.
“Missus was in complete darkness, luckily she had a pocket torch.
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“Don’t think they care much about health and safety in this store.”
In Aldridge in Birmingham joked that they needed to wear “ski gear, ear muffs and a head torch” in the cold, dingy store.
Locals slammed the outlet for being “too dark”, with “whole areas of lights out”.
One visually impaired customer said she struggled to read product packaging due to the dim lights.
In Caterham, Surrey, Tasha Robinson, 43, said: “I couldn’t believe how dark it was in Morrisons.
“I know they want to save money and cut their energy bills but no one wants to shop in the dark.”
At the Breightmet store in Bolton local Linda Marland, 50, said she understood the need to be carbon neutral but had “health and safety issues” over the lower lighting plan.
Morrisons staff have also complained – after a checkout worker recorded a temperature of 12C indoors at the branch in Verwood, Dorset.
The Health and Safety Executive suggests the minimum temperature indoors should be at least 16C or 13C if work needs rigorous physical effort.
One shopworker at the Verwood supermarket said: “One of my colleagues took in a thermometer and it was 12C. The highest it has been lately is 14C.
“When I’m working there I’m always shivering. Customers say it is awful and say ‘how can you work in these conditions? It’s awful.”
A Morrisons spokesman said yesterday: “We are reviewing all stores on a case-by-case basis and in some instances where customer feedback has been that it is too dark we have reverted the change while we review alternative options”.
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