ELDERLY residents of Bradford on Avon have complained to Sainsbury’s after the supermarket giant closed the local store’s café.

Some are calling for a petition to persuade Sainsbury’s to reopen the café.

One resident, Amanda Brookes, says she plans to ask Sainsbury's to reopen the cafe, saying: “Lots of older people use the café as a meeting point. I plan to write to Sainsbury’s to keep the café open.

“It’s not just the café, it’s the location and the supportive staff. Many people who live round there don’t have transport and are unable to walk into Bradford on Avon.”

Donna Smith, the Bradford on Avon store’s customer experience manager, said: “Unfortunately, this is true.

“Our staff are all going to be still working but I know they would appreciate their loyal customers fighting to get this decision reversed.”

Commenting on local social media, many people said the café is well used by residents, including elderly people who shop at the Elms Cross shopping centre store.

Ruth Randall commented: “The elderly and the frail get very tired doing their weekly shopping.

“The café provides them with a place to sit and recharge their batteries before heading home.”

Sainsbury’s closed the in-store café in March following the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and it has not reopened as customers expected.

It appears that customers knew very little about the café’s permanent closure until they noticed it had not reopened.

One customer, Sheila Galley, said: “I phoned customer services. The young man I spoke to knew nothing about it, he had to phone the store to double check before taking my complaint.

“I’m very disappointed and upset that they have made this decision and wish they would rethink the closure and keep it open.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, “We have taken the decision to close cafés in a very small proportion of stores where they are less popular with customers.

"This is so that we can use the space to offer other services, such as an Argos store in store and we will be speaking to affected colleagues about moving to roles in other areas of the store.

“We are preparing to reopen the rest of our cafes in phases in September, while keeping safety our highest priority. We will keep everyone updated on our plans.”