A Tesco shopper left "absolutely disgusted" during a visit to her local store decided to challenge fellow shoppers about their lack of masks after staff said it was not Tesco's policy to do so.
Sue Davies visited Tesco in St Stephen's Shopping Centre, Hull, on Sunday January 16 and was left less than impressed by the number of people not wearing a face covering.
She said she was also unhappy with staff failing to challenge customers not wearing masks and spoke to the store manager, reports Hull Live.
It has been mandatory to wear face coverings in supermarkets in England since November 30. This has consistently been the case in Wales since September 2020.
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The manager informed her that it was not Tesco's policy to challenge customers not wearing masks - prompting Sue to take matters into her own hands.
Contacted by Hull Live, Tesco have said they continue to follow government guidance and that unless exempt, it has been a legal requirement since November 30 to wear a face covering in their stores.
Sue, from Barton upon Humber, said of her recent trip to the Tesco supermarket in Hull city centre: "Are people in Hull just stupid or are they above the law?
"I was absolutely disgusted whilst in Hull on Sunday a store as large as the Tescos in St Stephen's were not challenging customers that were not wearing face covering.
"Over half of the customers and some of the staff were not wearing a face covering. Why was I the only person in the store challenging them?
"It was not just Tescos, people were coming in and out of the other shops in St Stephens without face coverings. Nobody seemed to be challenging them.
"I asked to speak to the store manager of Tescos about not challenging customers to be informed by her that it was not the company's policy to challenge those customers that were not wearing masks.
"The government has made the wearing of masks mandatory; while I accept that most of the country are becoming COVID weary and just want to get back to normal myself included; but stores should be refusing entry to non mask wearers to show that they care and support those hard pressed staff fighting to deal with those taken ill."
"Recovery from this pandemic will only happen if everyone does their part," added Sue.
Approached by Hull Live for comment, a Tesco spokesman said: "As we have throughout the pandemic, we are continuing to follow Government guidance to ensure the safety of our customers and colleagues.
"From Tuesday, November 30, it was a legal requirement to wear a face covering in our stores unless exempt in line with Government guidance."
Tesco staff are required, in line with government guidance, to wear masks unless exempt for medical or safety reasons.
The chain's store operate other measures to reduce risk of transmission.
These include hand sanitisers placed around stores, protective screens at checkouts, floor markings to help everyone keep a safe distance and a traffic light system at all large stores and the busiest Tesco Express stores.
The light system tells customers when they can safely enter.
When compulsory mask wearing was reintroduced in England in Autumn 2021, Tesco was one of a number of supermarkets to decide to adopt an approach of not directly challenging customers who do not wear a face covering.
Others to do so included Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Co-op - the latter directly cited risk of abuse and violence to staff as the reason to not enforce the rule themselves.
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