Iceland, Lidl and Nationwide open up early for pensioners amid coronavirus lockdown

British and Irish supermarkets have opened up early today to allow older customers to shop safely and avoid coronavirus-related panic buying.

Iceland, Lidl and Tesco are offering a ‘silver hour’ for elderly and vulnerable shoppers only, in an attempt to stem the crisis.

The Nationwide Building Society is also set to trial new branch opening times during the coronavirus outbreak, to help the elderly and vulnerable manage their money with a dedicated hour each morning.

It comes as the government urged over-70s to self-isolate for three months after more than 1,500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across the UK.

The Northern Irish branch of Iceland opened one hour early today at 8am, reserving the first hour for its elderly customers, after worried shoppers began rushing to grocery stores last week jostling to buy essentials that have flown off shelves. 

Older shoppers, some with family members to help and one carrying a walking stick, queued up next to each other at the Kennedy shopping centre, in West Belfast, before the shutters came up.

‘I thought it was a great thing that they did this morning, it saved the rush and was nice and relaxed,’ said local resident Mary Heaney after buying some groceries.

James McDonnell, who only had to pick up a few items, said he hoped other shops would do the same.

‘There were too many pictures of older folk stalking aisles empty, because everybody was in panic buying. This is a great idea,’ he said.

Iceland told MailOnline that they are allowing their stores to make their own decisions on how best to meet the needs of their local communities, but can’t confirm plans for specific branches at the moment.

A spokeswoman for Iceland said: ‘With many of our Iceland stores located at the heart of communities across the UK, we are encouraging our store managers to dedicate the first two hours of opening on Wednesday morning to the elderly (those of state pension age) and vulnerable people in their community, such as those with disabilities.

‘We are giving them the flexibility to offer this wherever possible, and arrangements will be publicised in the stores that decide to take this action.

‘We commend the action taken by our colleagues in the West Belfast store who have already dedicated an hour of early morning opening for the elderly. We are focused on being able to feed the nation and to support the most in need.’

Nationwide Building Society is also trialling new branch opening times during the coronavirus outbreak so that elderly and vulnerable people can manage their money in a safe environment within a dedicated hour each morning.

From Wednesday March 18, more than 100 branches across the UK will open from 8am, instead of the usual 9am, for people aged 70 and above and those with underlying health conditions.

It means older people can be the first people during the day to use Nationwide’s facilities, benefiting from enhanced cleaning that branches will undergo each evening, and before they open to the wider membership from their usual opening times.

If successful and if there is shown to be a need, Nationwide will consider whether the trial could be extended to more branches across the Society’s 650 branch network.

In Ireland, where schools, universities and pubs have been shut, German-owned discount chain Lidl began implementing priority shopping for the elderly from 9am to 11am every day until further notice across all of its 163 stores.

Promising priority queuing and additional assistance, Lidl asked other customers to respect the measure and plan their shopping trips accordingly as it may not be able to actively monitor compliance.

Tesco, one of Ireland’s three largest supermarket chains, will also introduce dedicated time in store three days a week for over 65s and family carer workers from Wednesday.

‘Because now more than ever, every little helps,’ the British retalier said on its Irish Twitter page, tweaking its famous slogan to fit the times.