A mother-of-three has started a campaign to get the supermarket chain Aldi to put child straps on its trolleys.
Jodie Shawcross, 32, says the child seats are a “massive accident waiting to happen” because children are able to stand up in them.
She became concerned after her 10-month-old son stood up while she was shopping at her local Aldi store in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester, in August.
Despite putting him back into the seat he immediately stood up again. She filmed the moment on camera.
“My son can stand up in a matter of seconds in the seat and could easily fall out and hurt himself”
“They are putting children at risk. I’ve heard of other children falling out but Aldi have never taken responsibility.”
She added: “Every other supermarket I’ve been to including Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys have seat restraints on trolleys for younger children but Aldi doesn’t.”
She says she is now forced to carry her son around the supermarket to avoid accidents.
Ms Shawcross, who has two other children aged five and 10, has now started a petition to get the supermarket to introduce safer child seats.
On the petition, which she posted on the site change.org, the mother is also calling for Aldi to introduce foot brakes on the trolleys, which she says also poses a danger to children.
“Goodness knows what would happen if a person turned their back momentarily to open the boot of their car with an unrestrained child in the trolley that has drifted away,” she said.
“Nightmare waiting to happen in the blink of an eye.”
Ms Shawcross isn’t the only parent who has taken issue with the supermarket chain over their trolley design.
Ruth Hatcher complained on the Aldi Facebook page that the trolleys in her store in Leicester were not safe enough for her baby to sit in.
“I have a young baby who cannot yet sit up in a trolley and so needs to use a car seat trolley. Having checked the trolley stand and searched the car park I couldn’t find one so went inside to ask where they were. I was told that they only have one and that it must be in use. I looked all round the store and could not see it in use.”
She added: “As a company that promotes itself to families, I’m afraid that this is a big fail on your part.”
Another frustrated mother, Leanne Finch, wrote:
“My little girl isn’t even one yet I spent our entire shopping trip trying to stop her standing up, which is stressful for us both.
“Today I moved my trolley over to the bagging area when Flossie dropped her ball. In the time it took to pick it up, she was out of the trolley and on the window ledge/packing area. Not good.”
She posted a photo of the incident on the Aldi Facebook page.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “Our customers are our number one priority and we thank Ms Shawcross for her feedback.
“Our trolleys comply with all relevant safety standards and we also provide parents with a range of infant trolleys in all of our stores.”
The petition so far has 57 signatures and can be viewed at: https://www.change.org/p/every-parent-and-consumer-make-aldi-put-child-straps-on-their-trollies
