Entire aisles at a large Manchester supermarket are currently empty with a number of fridges that failed during this week's heatwave still out of action.
Shoppers at the Tesco superstore in Cheetham Hill were still today being greeted by the sight of both fridges and freezers, normally containing fresh produce, switched off with a number of products unavailable as a result,
Pictures sent to the Manchester Evening News by one shopper today (Thursday) show at least four chilled aisles with little or nothing in them. Shutters have been pulled down in front of several units with signs saying: "Customer Notice: These fridges are currently out of order. We apologize for any inconvenience."
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Tesco has confirmed they first stopped working during this week's heatwave and that they are still being worked on by engineers. They say they will be back up and running "as soon as possible."
It is understood some stock has been moved to backroom freezers for storage but those items not on display are currently not available for sale.
The store is not the only supermarket to be hit by untimely faults with their refrigeration systems this week as temperatures soared.
Greater Manchester's heat record was smashed for a second day in a row on Tuesday, with the Met Office recording a maximum temperature of 37.2 degrees celcius at its Rochdale weather station. That beat the new record of 34.5C set on Monday.
And the unprecedented heat coincided with issues at a number of stores, including other branches of Tesco. At the Tesco Extra, in Stretford, vast fridge shelves were left empty on Tuesday. One shopper who shared an image of the empty shelves on Facebook said "maybe leave your shopping till Autumn."
Other stores have had similar problems during the sweltering 48 hours with broken fridges also reported at Tesco's Parrs Wood supermarket and the Tesco Express store on Burton Road in West Didsbury.
Shoppers at other retailers have also faced the same problems - with Sainsbury's on Moseley Street in the city centre and M&S at Manchester Piccadilly also having broken fridges earlier today. Some Co-op stores have also been having trouble, with broken fridges seen at the Cross Road shop in Sale.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “Some refrigeration and freezer units at our Cheetham Hill Superstore are currently being worked on by our maintenance teams who will get them back up and running as soon as possible.. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
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