A disabled pensioner has told how she was trapped in the dark in a supermarket toilet.

Sara Wyness, who has severely restricted mobility and uses a mobility scooter which she calls Hot Bug1, was at the Co-op in Rustington, near Littlehampton, when the lights went off.

Mrs Wyness, a widow, said she was unable to reach the exit and sat crying and screaming in the dark.


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She said it was at least an hour before staff heard her shouts and she was helped out.

Paramedics were then called to check the 76-year-old.

She said: “I am now too scared to go out.

“I was just spending a penny and suddenly it was dark.

“I was so scared. I am elderly and disabled. It was terrifying.

“The lights – they were flashing on and off.”

Weeping as she recounted her ordeal, Mrs Wyness, of East Preston, said: “When the lights went out I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t do anything.

“I banged and banged on the door with my stick. I was so scared – I was shaking.

“You can hear noises but you cannot get out. I was banging on the wall.

“There should have been an alarm.”

A spokeswoman for The Co-operative Food said: “We can |confirm that a customer became unable to exit a toilet cubicle at our store on Broadmark Lane.

“As soon as our staff became aware of the problem they helped to release the customer and |cared for her until the arrival |of a paramedic, who checked |she was okay before she left the store.

“The toilet cubicles and locks were subsequently checked and were found to be fully functioning.

“We also offer a disabled toilet to customers, which has an emergency cord to alert staff immediately of any problems.”