A SOUTHAMPTON man has hit out at a city supermarket at the state of its flowerbeds.

Tony Weafer has expressed his disgust at flowerbeds outside the Lidl branch in Shirley Road which he says are used as a bin.

The 68-year-old pensioner has slammed the retailer complaining about dead plants and rubbish.  Ultimately, he says the beds are “not acceptable”. 

He told the Echo: “Everyday rubbish is thrown, they (Lidl staff) do remove the rubbish, but it is not watered.”   

Tony says that the green patch was revamped “nearly two months ago”, however, is once again uncared for.  And, that after confronting Lidl staff he was given different “excuses”.

He said: “I spoke to the duty manager and they said they were aware of the problem. I went again and asked and was told they were waiting for a water gun”.

Tony said that he wants action because “Lidl is such a prominent site,” adding “we could possibly create it as a community project with Lidl’s cooperation to improve the flowerbed.” 

A Lidl spokesperson said: “At Lidl GB, we endeavour to create a pleasant store environment and our teams work extremely hard to ensure this.”  

“As such, routine checks are carried out at our stores including daily litter picks. We also have bins located on the premises and encourage their use to help ensure that the grounds remain litter-free.”  

Lidl has provided bins on site.

But due to the location of the flowerbed next to the main road through Shirley high street, rubbish has continued to be dumped.

The Lidl store opened in 2020 but the development proved controversial. 

In 2018 campaigners fought to save a historic yew tree and a petition, that gained hundreds of signatures, was launched. 

Despite their best efforts the tree was hacked down. 

The supermarket chain previously had a branch in Shirley Road near the McDonald’s restaurant. 

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