A STORE has been urged to close by a council boss in a bid to avoid staff and customers “being infected or even dying” from coronavirus.

Basildon Council leader Gavin Callaghan slammed the chief executive of the Range for “badly misjudging” the coronavirus crisis, asking him to either shut its Pitsea store or to introduce restrictions on the sale of non-essential items.

Mr Callaghan said he visited to store on Friday and claims one in six customers were leaving with such items. Under legal regulations, The Range is able to stay open.

In a letter to Alex Simpkin, the Range chief executive, he said: “How are you sleeping at night knowing your staff, your customers and all their families are potentially being infected and possibly even dying because they were tempted in to your store?

“You have badly misjudged this crisis, however it’s not too late to do the right thing.”

Mr Callaghan has also written a letter to Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick calling for action.

In the letter, he said: “The overwhelming majority were leaving the store with mirrors, garden furniture and picture frames. At present, councils have extremely limited powers to enforce any form of restrictions.

“Stores like this should be restricted in the sale of non-essential items and councils must have the power to enforce this. It seems the only way to stop my residents being forced to travel to work by unscrupulous employers determined to maximise profit.”

Baileigh Saunders, 20, from Stanford-le-Hope, noticed shoppers were leaving the store with non-essential items like wallpaper and paint, when visiting the store at the weekend.

Chief Executive at Basildon Council, Scott Logan, added: “The Range must continue to manage its store in a responsible way. We have visited the store to consider public concerns, and will continue to review the situation. The council has powers to close businesses that are trading who are not permitted to trade. Under this regulation they can remain open.”

Kevin Robinson, councillor for business, culture and tourism in Southend believes it may be difficult to roll out a new rule to put item restrictions in place. He said: “Selective arrangements like this are almost impossible to enforce, as the cashier has to spend time deliberating whether things are essential when shoppers get to the till. If people are refused it could invoke a hostile and negative reaction.”

The Range was contacted a number of times by the Echo for comment but failed to respond by the time we went to press last night.