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Shoppers stumped by dead-end zebra crossing

John Nurden A car park outside an Aldi store. The zebra crossing, white of black tarmac, leads to a kerbed flower bed instead of a footpath. The car park is almost full. There is a warehouse-type building in the background. The sky is cloudy.John Nurden
The zebra crossing in a supermarket car park leads to a flower bed and lamp post

Customers have been stumped by a “crossing to nowhere” at a new supermarket in Kent.

Shoppers at the Aldi store in Neats Court, Queenborough, on the Isle of Sheppey, were left scratching their heads when using a pedestrian crossing in the cark park which lead them to a flowerbed and lamp post.

Ben Pointing, from Minster-on-Sea Parish Council, wrote on Facebook: “Someone even suggested a Harry Potter-style approach of running into the lamp post to get to another part of the car park.”

Aldi said it was planning to extend pedestrian access around the store.

John Nurden An Aldi store. The black roof is shaped like a wave. The res of the building is grey. In the foreground is black tarmac of the car park. There are four cars parked on the right, one on the left. The sky is blue, a few clouds scattered in the background.John Nurden
The new store employs 40 staff

One member of staff said: “It’s not exactly the best design. We have alerted our planners to the situation.”

The £9m store was opened on 18 July by Olympic gold medalist rower Matthew Langridge.

But focus quickly turned to the zebra crossing between the store and car park, forcing customers to walk through a flowerbed with their shopping.

The crossing even featured on the Dull Man’s Club Facebook page, which has 1.4 million followers and pokes fun at finding joy in the mundane.

Danny Larcombe, who lives in Sheerness, joked: “Today I visited our brand new supermarket at Queenborough.

“I’m satisfied that the width of the crossing is regulatory, as are the paint markings. [But] things start to degrade rapidly as you make your way across.

“I didn’t quite make it all the way and, in a crabbing sort of style, backed out of my journey.

“Now I have feelings of regret at what might have been if I had just had the courage to continue on my path. Maybe next time I’ll tough it out."

A spokesperson for Aldi said: “We’re pleased to have been able to bring an Aldi supermarket to Queenborough and are planning to extend the pedestrian access around the store soon."

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