During the lockdown I have been using various supermarkets in Ely to buy groceries for neighbours.

I find that Sainsbury’s and Tesco are the best for safely arranging their store procedures and the number of customers they allow in.

Aldi and Waitrose have quite narrow aisles but do not have a one-way system to avoid people getting too close together as they pass.

However I have found in all the stores that staff stacking shelves are sometimes not following safe distancing guidelines.

This was worst in Aldi where there were multiple incidents during one of my visits where staff got to close to me or other customers - within centimetres in one case.

I complained in the store and to their head office but little was done. As a result I have not been back there to shop.

Even in Sainsbury’s where I shopped this week, a staff member came up behind me so silently that I had no warning and no opportunity to back away or protest before he walked past within a foot of me.

I followed him and complained verbally, receiving an apology, but this is no guarantee that he would not do the same again to someone else.

Such incidents are totally unnecessary, in a big store with wide aisles and a very low number of customers!

Many people at large do not observe distancing or take their own or other people’s safety seriously, and we have to accept that, unfortunately.

However, it is little short of criminal that staff in food stores are not absolutely drilled in safety procedures.

My personal circumstances are; that I have a family member at home who is in the high risk category, and I also work in a hands-on therapeutic environment where many of the service users are very vulnerable to infection.

I take every measure I can, in my routines at home and at work, to keep them safe; but my efforts could be in vain because of the casual disregard for safety among people who should know better. Everyone has to buy food; each and every food store customer has the right to be safe, and to know they are keeping their families safe.

Additionally, as we start to ease some of the lockdown practices, we need to know even more that people are adhering to safety standards.

I would like to know if you have received similar stories from your readership, and if you would consider featuring a letter about this matter.