Asda has announced it will be introducing Covid-19 marshals into stores to ensure that safety guidelines are being adhered to.
A total of 1,000 new Asda Safety Marshals will be stationed at the front of every store, as well as in the aisles of some of the supermarket chain's larger branches.
Bosses said the additional measures would help make the stores 'even safer' for both staff and shoppers over the coming months.
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If customers are not wearing a face mask, they will be asked to purchase a pack of disposable coverings and pay for them as part of their shopping trip, Asda explained.
As well as making sure people are wearing face masks, the marshals have also been brought in to see that shoppers are social distancing from one another.
Asda chief operating officer Anthony Hemmerdinger said: "We know that safety remains a key priority for our customers and we will continue to do all we can to keep them and our colleagues safe in store, as we have since the start of the pandemic.
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"These additional measures will make our stores an even safer place to shop and work during the coming months."
The company also said it would be installing extra hand sanitiser stations in busier parts of stores, and will apply protective coatings to all basket and trolley handles.
Store colleagues in England, Wales and Scotland, meanwhile, will now wear a covering while at work unless they have a medical exemption, in line with recent government changes.
The news comes after new restrictions were announced earlier this week, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined in a televised address on Tuesday evening.
Warning that 'difficult months' are ahead as we continue to battle the virus, Johnson said: "We must rely on our willingness to look out for each other, to protect each other. Never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour.
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"If we follow these simple rules together, we will get through this winter together. There are unquestionably difficult months to come. And the fight against Covid is by no means over. I have no doubt, however, that there are great days ahead.
"But now is the time for us all to summon the discipline, and the resolve, and the spirit of togetherness that will carry us through."
He added: "The struggle against Covid is the single biggest crisis the world has faced in my lifetime.
"Here in the UK we mourn every person we have lost, and we grieve with their families. And yet I am more certain than ever that this is a struggle that humanity will win, and we in this country will win."
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Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: UK News, News, supermarket, Asda