A disabled mother-of-two was barricaded in her living room for two hours after an Asda delivery driver dumped crates of shopping in her hallway.
Anna O’Mara, who can barely walk after a freak accident, ordered £80-worth of shopping from the supermarket giant to be delivered to her Wolverhampton home.
But the 48-year-old was left trapped in the living room of her ground-floor flat – unable to even use her toilet – after the driver ditched the heavy crates full of food in her hall and drove off.
Disabled mother-of-two Anna O’Mara was barricaded into her living room by an Asda grocery delivery after the driver dumped the crates outside the door
Ms O’Mara eventually managed to alert her daughter and ex-husband who travelled almost 20 miles from Birmingham to help.
Now Asda has admitted its worker ‘clearly got it wrong’ and has offered its ‘full apologies’.
Ms O’Mara said: ‘Asda need to be disabled-friendly. I was left paralysed for four weeks when I tripped over in my bedroom and broke my back, at the start of June.
‘I only came out of hospital last month and as I can’t go out on my own, I chose to do my food shopping online.
‘I had one delivery from Asda which was great, the driver brought my shopping in and even put it away for me.
‘But the second time was horrendous and degrading.’
The 48-year-old, who uses a walking aid, was trapped for two hours and couldn’t access the toilet
Ms O’Mara ordered her shopping to be delivered between noon and 1pm on September 6.
When the driver arrived five minutes late, she asked him to unload the shopping into her kitchen.
She said: ‘The driver said “it’s not my job to unpack” and, despite me telling him I could hardly move, he dumped the crates in the hallway.
‘I told him I had to walk with a frame and I wouldn’t be able to get past them, but he just left. He was clearly in a rush.
The driver who left the crates said to Ms O’Mara it was ‘not his job’ to unpack the crates (pictured). Asda have since apologised for the incident
‘I couldn’t lift them or move them out of the way. I couldn’t get past to leave my living room – I couldn’t even get to the loo.
‘I had to wait for my daughter and ex-husband to arrive and help, but I was trapped for nearly two hours.
‘The emptied crates are still in my flat.’
Ms O’Mara, who now has to walk with the aid of a frame, said the incident was a ‘real shock’.
‘My life has changed dramatically in the last few months,’ she said.
‘I have gone from working full-time, being a totally independent and able-bodied person, to not working and having to rely on others for help.
‘But out of everything I have been through, this came as the biggest shock. I can’t be Asda’s only disabled shopper.
‘They are a major retailer. I want them to be aware they can’t treat people like this.
‘How many more disabled people have been through it?’
Asda issued a ‘full apology’ to Ms O’Mara and offered her a hamper of products as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
An Asda spokesman said: ‘We always strive to offer great customer service, but on this occasion we clearly got it wrong and have offered our full apologies to Ms O’Mara.
‘We are glad she has accepted a gesture of goodwill, which we hope can help restore her faith in us.’