Success - pensioner reduced to tears in Tesco 'vulnerable' queue makes successful shopping trip

And her husband has thanked Tesco for helping to ensure the time slot is reserved for elderly and vulnerable customers for those people.

The lady, who is 75 and has health issues, was offered a home delivery by Tesco after the Banbury Guardian approached the store. The woman had gone down to shop between 9am - 10am but found the long queue included many ordinary shoppers. Having waited some time she returned home upset without doing her shopping.

The story in on the Banbury Guardian's website and social media prompted a number of offers of help from generous individuals who were prepared to do the couple's shopping.

The woman's husband, who also has health problems, said: "Tesco offered to make a delivery to us so I asked my wife to make a list. She is a very stubborn and proud lady and told me she would go to Tesco herself at 9am to see if the public at large had learned anything from the article.

"She walked to Tesco and was there at 9am. She found the queues to be not very long and the people who were there were the elderly. She did her shop and there seemed to be a reasonable amount of products and choice but no flour. When she had finished I collected her in my car," he said.

"I hope that means that probably the public at large are now settling down and respecting the virus situation or maybe they have bought so much food in the last few weeks that have no more room in their fridges and freezers.

"So, we are grateful for the paper's help in drawing attention to our experience and those of the many elderly who are finding this coronavirus situation extremely trying and upsetting.

"Tesco does deserve praise for what they are doing. I guess like all things new it takes time to get used to completely new situations such as this dreadful virus."

He thanked those who had offered to do the shopping for them.

"It was so nice of the people to make such an offer. We are grateful. It certainly helps to renew our faith in human nature. Both my wife and I have always been self sufficient and have never needed to ask for help or rely on others. But with the new circumstances that we and the world find ourselves in now it is a question of rapidly having to reevaluate and adapt to our new conditions.

"Thankfully our shopping needs seem to have resolved now with the new measures adopted by Tesco and so hopefully we will still be able to get our shopping done.

"It is so nice of people to offer us help in these dreadful times. Please send them our warmest wishes and tell them how grateful we are for their kind offers. Here’s hoping that the virus will start to decline in the coming weeks when we might look forward to some warmer weather."