My name is Pat, I am 69 years old, and retired but I am a volunteer helping disabled people with applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) forms and a Trustee of Disability Network Hounslow. I am active in Hillingdon & Hounslow UNITE Community.

My local Tesco's now has large numbers of 'self-service-card only tills (SSCOTs). My daughter Tash and I started the petition.

What used to be a great shopping experience has now become physically difficult, overwhelming, and a 'nightmare'.

At my local Tesco mega-store, and probably all over the country, Tesco is bringing in new self-service and sort-it-out-yourself card only till machines. They make up 2/3 of the tills now. 

These new tills are not accessible for people who don't have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use these self-service card-only tills - myself included. People such as carers, older people, many disabled people, especially those with mobility problems, manual dexterity issues or lifting problems are unlikely to be able to use these SSCOT's and will most likely have to queue waiting for more than 30 minutes to wait for a staffed till.  During busy times, the queue could be longer.

Staff hours of work have been varied, its not that they've got rid of the staff, but they've replaced check-out staff with these new SSCOT's

I love chatting with the staff, albeit briefly, especially as l live on my own. Talking with human staff is important to me. Now that experience has been taken away.

With these new replacement Self-service-card-only tills (SSCOTs) you have to choose your shopping if you can find it, put it in the trolley, unpack it, load it onto the belt that is static, scan it (if the scanner works), shove it across with your elbow (the packing area is too small for a big shop) then it goes into the packing area, pay for it and then lift it off out of the packing area and then load it into your trolley. This is a physically taxing process. As an older woman, I can't lift anything heavy, and that goes for many disabled people. I had to get help to lift windscreen wash because it was too heavy. 

I want Ken Murphy the Chief Executive Officer of Tesco's  to bring back more staffed tills and check outs. I want him to commit to a People & Profit Policy not a Profits before People Policy.

Thank you for signing this petition.