SAINSBURY'S has rubbished claims that it has been cutting manned checkout services in Warrington.

A member of the public claimed to the Warrington Guardian that the supermarket chain has slashed its manned services in its Culcheth branch.

The reader made the claim that the services in Culcheth's Sainsbury's had been cut back to just one staff-operated checkout - which they then branded as 'absolutely ridiculous.'

Following the claims was a tsunami of criticisms against the supermarket, including: "Clearly, no thought has gone into this poor decision, except that you can cut down on staff in the small store."

It was alleged that Sainsbury's had slashed their manned services in the store, which was causing problems for some shoppers, such as the elderly or disabled, who may need more assistance than others.

The letter continued: "It is absolutely ridiculous what [they] have done to the small Sainsbury's in Culcheth.

"[They] have removed all but one staff-controlled till and now shoppers have to use self-service.

"Culcheth has a high majority of elderly who struggle with their shopping and to remove staff-controlled tills, in this small Sainsbury's, shows that no thought went into this."

When the claims were put to them by the Warrington Guardian, a Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "It would be incorrect to report that.

"On background, there are three manned tills at this store."

The spokesperson then said: "We regularly review the services available in our stores to make sure we offer the most convenient experience to our customers.

“We have slightly increased the number of self-service checkouts at our Culcheth store so that we can meet customer demand for this service.

"Our colleagues are on hand to help anyone who may need support using them and we continue to offer manned checkouts for our customers who wish to use them.”