A Sainsbury’s superstore in Sydenham has responded after dozens of angry customers complained about a decline in service.

Long queues and sparsely stocked shelves were the most common grievances, but some claimed to have spotted rats in the store in Southend Lane.

News Shopper broke the story on October 2 and since then things have picked up.

READ M0RE - Complaints over Sydenham Sainsbury's queues and empty shelves

Rachel Dunlop, a loyal customer of 20 years, described “superficial improvements”.

She added: “The store looks like it had a deep clean immediately after the story appeared. Since then it’s been generally cleaner.

“The cosmetics area I highlighted was definitely cleaned. There are a few stock cages blocking the aisles and queues have been better but I’ve heard from others that it is still sometimes an issue.”

News Shopper:

She said the cosmetics area was previously “empty, filthy and with spilled make-up” before Sainsbury’s noted concerns.

Resident Nicola Johnson gathered all the concerns on a long social media thread which she submitted to Sainsbury’s.

In response, executive Kerry Beeston wrote to say: “It is disappointing to read that certain products have been out of stock.

“Whilst the store confirm that they generally have a high stock replenishment rate, they have advised that a recent re-dress of the story may have impacted stock availability.

“The store is continually working to improve the availability of stock and would welcome you to provide details of the specific products that have been unavailable to purchase so they can review this further.”

The letter also stated no rodents were inside the shop and an increase in fly-tipping outside “may have led to the sight of pests on our car park”.

Councillor Alan Hall also wrote to Sainsbury’s outlining customer concerns but says he has not heard back.

He told News Shopper: “It looks like there is a queue for Sainsbury’s responses and unfortunately I am in it.”