Customers are threatening to avoid one of a Wiltshire town’s biggest supermarkets in a row over self-service checkouts.

Sainsbury’s has increased the number of self-service checkouts at its Bath Road store in Chippenham to “meet customer demand”.

But this has led to complaints from customers who prefer manned tills and argue the current layout is causing “big queues” at manned tills.

Steven Pope said: “Just been to Sainsburys in Chippenham… half the tills have been removed to install self-scan tills, big queues at every place to pay.

“Who on earth thought this would be a good idea? Self-scan and automation have just caused longer shopping queues.”

Some residents have threatened to shop elsewhere and labelled the shopping experience “awful.”

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The manned checkouts at Sainsbury's in WiltshireThe manned checkouts at Sainsbury's in Wiltshire (Image: Newsquest) Andy Bowman said: “I get why they’re doing it… but it’s now a very annoying and poor experience going there.

“I will not use the self-checkouts - I prefer dealing with people, not machines.

“After 33+ years of using Sainsbury’s, I am now seriously thinking of going somewhere else.”

Jo Linzinger added: “It’s awful. I went there the other day for a big shop, the queues were down the aisles for the manned tills.

“It’s definitely not a great experience in there now.”

Others fear the situation will become worse over the next few months as Christmas approaches.

But many are in favour of the expanded self-service checkouts, believing they make shopping quicker and more convenient.

Sainsbury's in ChippenhamSainsbury's in Chippenham (Image: Newsquest) Anna Maloney said: “I'm fine with the mix. Often I have a really limited time to shop and if I have a trolley I have to use the manned checkouts which can be slow as understandably people like to chat.

“Now I can use the self-scan tills and go at my own pace.”

Rob Whiting added: “I like the self-checkouts I just want to get in and out of there don’t want to stand at a till while the person in front has a ten-minute chat.”

Sainsbury’s says it regularly reviews its services and is continuing to offer serviced checkouts for those that want them.

A spokesperson added: “We regularly review the services available in our stores to make sure we offer the most convenient experience for our customers. 

“We have slightly increased the number of self-service checkouts at our Chippenham store so that we can meet customer demand for this service.

“Our colleagues are on hand to help anyone who may need support using them and we continue to offer serviced checkouts for our customers who wish to use them.”