A SUPERMARKET was forced to empty shelves of its cold products after the chillers broke down.

Aldi in London Road, Westcliff, was forced to remove all the items from a large section of the store - and has issued apologies to shoppers.

Instead of racks of good value meat, fish and other products customers were greeted with a sign which read: “Due to unforeseen circumstances this stock is not going to be available today. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

Customers claimed the problem had been on and off for more than a week now, with complaints on social media from January 16 through to January 23.

A spokesman for Aldi said: “Due to an issue with the chillers at our Westcliff store, we are currently stocking a reduced range of chilled products.

“We are working to resolve this as soon as possible.”

However customers were disappointed with the length of time being taken for repairs.

One said: “The chillers were broken on Wednesday.

“I came back a week later only to find they still hadn’t been replaced.

“You would have thought they would have got an engineer in by now.”

Another said: “It’s okay for someone like me I can just drive to the next Aldi 15mins away, and it’s not Aldi’s fault, but for those who don’t drive it’s highly inconvenient.”

The store has been criticised for failing to let customers know before they go in with signs only on the units themselves.

Estelle Roig, via social media, said: “When I asked a member of staff if they were putting the note on the front of the door so people could decide whether they were willing to shop there or not, he said ‘no as we will lose customers’.

“I had to put everything back.

“Respect your customers and they will return.

“I know mistakes happen, but I would have took it a lot better had I known in advance.”

The spokesman for the store would not confirm how long it would take for the area to be repaired.