Supermarkets have been praised for their help for communities in East Sussex devastated by the recent floods. A Somerfield store in Uckfield and a Safeway store in Lewes will have to be completely refitted after they were flooded with sewage contaminated water to a depth of several feet, while the Tesco store in Lewes lost all its fresh and frozen stock because its electricity supply was off for three days. Nevertheless, three temporary metal containers were despatched to Lewes by Safeway to set up shop in the car park the day after the flood, and they provided bread and milk, general products and household goods to cope with the high demand for cleaning items. A larger temporary unit was supplied by Safeway on Monday and will serve while the store is refitted. Meanwhile Sainsbury's Newhaven store provided more than £2,000 of groceries to help the council feed 250-300 people evacuated from their homes. Lewes MP Norman Baker told the Grocer: "Safeway provided a public service. It was a good idea and welcome." He also praised council planners for turning a blind eye to any minor infringements caused by the temporary structures. Maureen Messer, chairman of Lewes District Council, said: "We were very grateful they were open for the townsfolk. Sainsbury's in Newhaven were also wonderful providing the food for the rest centre. In Uckfield, Somerfield vowed to invest £2m to get its store open in time for Christmas shopping. More than £1m was spent refitting the store just 18 months ago, and £1.5m of equipment and £400,000 of stock were destroyed. {{NEWS }}

Topics