Chaos as storm swamps store

Reporter: Jennifer Hollamby
Date online: 03 July 2009

Couple say evacuation was a “living nightmare”

A COUPLE have hit out at a store’s evacuation policy after their shopping trip turned into a washout.

William and Jennifer Taylor were caught out when torrential downpours damaged the roof at Asda Living at Elk Mill, Royton, causing water to flood in.

But the couple, of Delph Lane, Delph, say they had to endure a 20-minute nightmare, as staff couldn’t decide which exit to use and eventually left them to make their own way down narrow metal staircases before they eventually got out of the store.

And Jennifer says that there were still people queuing and shopping on the ground floor after shoppers from the first floor had been evacuated.

Jennifer (59) said: “Their contingency plan for emergencies seems to be nil. God knows what would have happened if there had been a fire.”

The drama unfolded when water started to pour into the shop at around 2pm on Sunday, when part of the roof broke during heavy downpours.

Jennifer said: “The roof had been some dripping, but once it broke, it was like Niagara Falls and water was flowing across the floor upstairs. At first, staff were telling us to get out using the lift, but they changed their mind when my husband pointed out that it probably wasn’t safe to use during a flood.

“We were then led to a door which wouldn’t open because it was card operated and eventually we were taken through the warehouse, but there were no obvious signs telling people how to get out.

“We then got to a metal staircase and the staff simply opened the door and said ‘go down there’. We had our elderly neighbour with us, so my husband had to escort her down, before going back to help an older lady with a stick make her way down. All this time, the staff were behind us not really doing much.

“Once we’d got to the bottom floor, water was dripping down the stairs and from the light fittings there too, but people were still browsing around the store and staff were busy trying to remove the stock.

“I just can’t believe how disorganised it was, nobody seemed to have a clue what they were doing. It could have been really serious if there had been a fire and they need to take a serious look at their evacuation procedure.”

Alan has since been in contact with the store and is awaiting a reply.

A spokesman for Asda said they would be investigating the matter and responding to Mr Taylor’s letter.

She said: “The safety of our customers is paramount and that’s why we’re very sorry if we have caused any upset or confusion to any of our shoppers during the evacuation of our Living store at the weekend.

“We’re currently investigating what went wrong and re-training our colleagues on the correct procedures when it comes to health and safety, including store evacuation, to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”