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Over 100,000 sign pensioner’s petition to bring back tills at Tesco
69 year old Pat McCarthy says her local Tesco has ”inaccessible self-service tills with no staff’, leaving some shoppers waiting over 30 minutes to be served
A 69-year-old Tesco shopper is pleading with the supermarket to bring back more manned tills at Tesco, saying that "you can't speak to a machine."
Pat McCarthy, herself a regular at her local big Tesco, has launched a petition to take the supermarket on after noticing more self-checkout tills, which she cannot use, are being introduced at the store.
Stating that “these new tills are not accessible for people who don’t have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use these self-service card-only tills – myself included", she’s now calling on the company to reintroduce more staffed checkouts – and it seems the nation is on her side.
The petition has already hit over 100,000 signatures – 102,222 at the time of writing – and looks set to soon become one of the most-signed petitions on Change.org, reports The Manc.
In it, Pat makes several well-put arguments for the return of more staff, explaining that at her local Tesco, and “probably all over the country, Tesco is bringing in new self-service and sort-it-yourself card only till machines. They make up 3/4 of the tills now.
“As an older woman, I can’t lift anything heavy, and that goes for many disabled people.”
She continues: “People such as carers, older people, disabled people with mobility problems or lifting problems have to queue waiting for more than 30 minutes.
“I couldn’t lift the windscreen wash the other day in Tesco because it was so heavy and some men were lovely to help and had to put it in my car for me.
“If they weren’t around and my daughter wasn’t with me, I would have been helpless.”
Her petition also points out that the new self-service tills have “displaced mainly part-time women staff”, and echos something many older people miss – the bit of chit-chat you have with the staff as they’re scanning your items.
She explains: “I love chatting with the staff, albeit briefly, especially as l live on my own. Talking with human staff is important to me. Now that experience has been taken away from me.
It is not the first time that shoppers have pushed back against self-checkout tills. Back in 2015, Morrisons brought back staff at 1,000 “express” checkouts after learning 67% of their customers felt enxious using the self scanning tills.
The full petition reads: “My name is Pat, I am 69 years old, and retired but I am a volunteer helping disabled people with applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) forms and a Trustee of my local Disability Network.
“My local Tesco has inaccessible self-service tills with no staff which makes the shopping experience physically difficult and overwhelming.
“At my local Tesco mega-store, and probably all over the country, Tesco is bringing in new self-service and sort-it-yourself card only till machines. They make up 3/4 of the tills now.
“These new tills are not accessible for people who don’t have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use these self-service card-only tills – myself included.
“People such as carers, older people, disabled people with mobility problems or lifting problems have to queue waiting for more than 30 minutes.
“I couldn’t lift the windscreen wash the other day in Tesco because it was so heavy and some men were lovely to help and had to put it in my car for me. If they weren’t around and my daughter wasn’t with me, I would have been helpless.
“These new self-service card tills have displaced mainly part-time women staff.
“I love chatting with the staff, albeit briefly, especially as l live on my own. Talking with human staff is important to me. Now that experience has been taken away from me.
“With these new replacement Self-service-card-only tills (SSCOT) you have to choose your shopping if you can find it, put it in the trolley, unpack it, load it onto the belt that is static, scan it (if the scanner works), shove it across onto a packing area, pay for it and then lift it off out of the packing area and then load it into your trolley. This is a physically taxing process. As an older woman, I can’t lift anything heavy, and that goes for many disabled people.
“I challenge Ken Murphy Chief Executive of Tesco to meet with me for a discussion to explain his ‘replace people with machines policy’. I want Ken Murphy to bring staff back to do check-outs on the till and not have a replace people with machines policy.
“If we lose, it means an erosion of a great shopping experience into a Tesco’s shopping nightmare.
“Sign and share this petition to help people with physical difficulties to have a better shopping experience in Tesco by bringing back staff.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “Our colleagues and the friendly service they provide are absolutely vital to our stores and will always be on hand to help our customers, whether they are checking out at one of our colleague-operated or self-service checkouts.”
If you’d like to sign the petition you can do so here.
One of West Yorkshire's biggest live music events , Leeds Festival, has announced its second wave of artists including a Skepta DJ set.
Back in December, Leeds Festival announced some impressive acts would be headlining like Fontaines D.C., Florence and the Machine, Charli xcx, Raye, Dave, and Chase & Status.
Leeds Festival 2026 also marks the first time this live music extended-weekender will have a Thursday night headliner courtesy of rock band Kasabian.
Alongside the stellar headliners, this year's line-up also sees Skepta, Sombr, Skye Newman, Role Model, Kneecap and more major acts performing next August.
Leeds Festival 2026 announces second wave of artists with over 60 new names / Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Now, Leeds Festival has dropped its second wave of artists with over 60 names that are just as hard-hitting and extraordinary as the previously mentioned music moguls.
Headliner RAYE is making her Leeds Festival headline slot a family affair by bringing along her amazing sisters along for the ride too as Amma and Absolutely are now playing sets.
Violet Grohl, the eldest daughter of Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl, is making her first ever festival appearance and bringing her alternative-indie sound to Leeds.
Skepta announced for a b2b set and Violet Grohl makes festival performance debut / Credit: @henrygoodfell0w / Press Shot via supplied
Get ready for Cruz Beckham and The Breakers to step out for a set like no other too, as they prepare a performance all 'for your love' and attention.
There's even a brand-new stage titled The Warehouse which will act as the home for all things dance music, with exclusive b2b sets, DJ performances and a club-like experience.
The acts taking to this stage include Skepta b2b with East End Dubs, Omar +, Bou, Hedex, Rossi, Mall Grab and lots more.
More artists ready to wow the Bramham Park crowd include Arthur Hill, The Lathums, Duke Dumont, Slayyyter, The K's, Paris Paloma, Holly Humberstone and more.
Leeds Festival is taking place from 27 August to 30 August at Bramham Park and to find a full line-up HERE.
If you're after getting your hands on tickets for one of West Yorkshire's biggest festivals when it returns this August, you can do so HERE.
Featured Images - Press shots via Georgina Hurdsfield (Supplied)
UK News
TV presenter’s rant pointing out double-standard over Sheffield Wednesday punishment goes viral
Danny Jones
A TV presenter and Sheffield Wednesday supporter's speech about the perceived double standard concerning another pending points deduction at her club compared to the punishment of Premier League clubs is trending online.
Many believe she's pretty bang on the money, to be fair.
Wednesdayite Sophy Ridge, who hosts a regular Sky News show with fellow presenter Wilfred Frost, recently took the opportunity to indulge in some understandable fan frustration during a show this week.
Admittedly, getting on her soapbox a bit - and for good reason - the Richmond-born Owls fan simply shed light on the contradictory nature of Sheffield Wednesday's penalty set for the next season over financial violations when compared to top-flight offenders.
Went on a bit of a rant on telly comparing how Chelsea & Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt with#swfc
Citing both Manchester City (with their estimated 115-130 charges still no closer to being resolved) and now Chelsea as being the most recently accused of breaking regulations, she argued that there's a significant difference between penalties teams are being slapped with - or in some cases, still avoiding.
For instance, while the Man City saga first broke back in February 2023 and relates to alleged breaches dating all the way back to 2009, they are yet to be confirmed as guilty, at least not in any public announcement.
As for the West London club, Chelsea have only just been hit with a fine, albeit a Premier League record sum of approximately £10.75 million, as well as a 12-month transfer ban, though it has already been suspended for two years.
This is due to them having made undisclosed payments to agents, players and various other individuals during the Roman Abramovich ownership era.
Meanwhile, for anyone who hasn't been following the huge furore among the long-suffering Sheffield fanbase, Wednesday fans, players, and footballing staff are the ones being penalised for what many believe is nothing more than 'improper' and 'irresponsible' management of the club at an executive level.
For context, they are currently set to start the next 2026/27 campaign in the EFL's third tier with a 15-point handicap, which could very well spell yet another disaster year, with Ridge adding: "How attractive is that [a club sale] going to be for an owner that might be looking at back-to-back relegations?"
Sadly, it seems that its matchgoers and other die-hards are the ones set to pay the price this time, as they often have been; according to the sports journalist, that's often the case further down the pyramid.
For instance, Todd Boehly's Chelsea organisation seem to have been let off the hook regarding any setback in the standings due to their cooperation with the profit and sustainability (PSR) investigation, and because their offence pre-dates the modern PSR guidelines era.
In fact, Chelsea were actually said to have voluntarilyreported themselves regarding historic offences within youth football, which also seems to have afforded them some leniency.
Put simply, she believes it's unfair for the soon-to-be League One side to face such harsh terms and a fee just a few million shy of the figure they've been told they 'must' pay outgoing owners, Dejphon Chansiri, while Chelsea face "no sanctions despite the fact this [illegal spending] clearly would have given them a sporting advantage" in the past.
What do you make of the whole saga, and do you think there's a difference in how so-called 'bigger' clubs are treated compared to those in lower divisions?
Georgina Pellant -
18th May 2022 
