She added: ‘I am absolutely disgusted with the Co-op. It really makes me mad that the minority of their customers are the elderly as they shop local and they are not looking after them.’
A spokeswoman from the Co-op said that colleagues had been asked not to challenge people for fear of ‘conflict’ amid a rise in the numbers of assaults on shop staff.
She said: ‘Our store colleagues have worked extremely hard throughout the pandemic to make sure our stores stay open for their local communities.
‘We take the health of our colleagues and customers extremely seriously and have put in place a range of Covid safety measures for their protection including our colleagues wearing face coverings, installing till point hygiene screens, social distancing signage, prioritising cleaning and hygiene routines, and monitoring and controlling the number of customers in stores at any one time.