Morrisons store introduces 'buzz for booze' button which you need to press to get alcohol

Most of us love nothing more than nipping down to the local supermarket for the essentials - and by that, I mean a bottle of wine.

Or two, depending on how bad the week's been.

But in one Morrisons store in Birmingham, the process of purchasing alcohol has become a little more intricate.

In the store, located off Birmingham's Hagley Road, customers will have to press a button to alert staff that they want to purchase booze, which is now locked away behind a glass door. A staff member will then come over to unlock the cabinet.

This new system was introduced in recent months, presumably as a way to tackle theft.

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Kurtis Roberts was one of many who spotted the system while making a visit to the store.

The 50 year old local said: "It’s a shame Morrisons has to resort to this, but with the cost of living crisis I suppose that theft is on the increase.

"I was actually in the same aisle on the opposite side picking up a couple of bottles of coke, when the assistant asked if she could help me with my alcohol purchase.

"Another guy responded by saying that it was him that pressed the button and another guy said that he was also waiting."

Back in February, a visitor to the store wrote on Facebook: "I tried to buy some booze from Morrisons (Hagley Road) and they now have their liquor encased under lock and key.

"You now need to press the big buzzer for an authorised assistant to open up and give you booze. Which is all recorded.

"The manager told me this is their last resort or they will stop stocking spirits altogether."

A spokesperson for Morrisons told LadBible: "We are using these cabinets in a number of our stores, as are others across the industry.

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"We have received good feedback from customers and have a colleague in the area and the buzzer also goes to the store headsets so customers can expect a really prompt service."

Well, this isn't the first time in recent years that supermarkets have taken steps in a bid to prevent theft.

A Co-Op store in Stoke-on-Trent sealed their cheeses in secure plastic cases in a bid to prevent shoplifters from nicking them.

At the time, a spokesperson insisted that this measure was not in response to the cost of living crisis, telling LADbible: "It is not a response to cost of living crisis and would be inaccurate to claim as such.

"Safety and security for our colleagues and customers is a number one priority and crime can be a flashpoint for violence, abuse and anti-social behaviour towards frontline shopworkers and this latest technology acts as deterrence."