A SHOPPERS's comical take on queuing to get into a convenience store has brought smiles across a local community.

Tracey Coxall, from Stanford-le-Hope, found herself at the back of a very long queue at the Morrisons' store in Corringham but instead of moping about the wait - turned it into a fun experience which she shared on a local Facebook page.

Her take on the experience has cheered up many people, lots of whom have thanked he for raising spirits and making them smile.

Tracey was particularly taken with the new security guards on the door!

She wrote: "Just wanted to give a massive shout out to the Morrisons staff in Corringham.

"After a queue that felt like I was waiting for an Alton towers ride (the ones the aren't really worth waiting for but everyone is talking about it so you feel obliged) I was greeted by, what can only be described as the bouncer....now ladies I know you're only going to see him...he's funny, charming and easy on the eye.

"Thank you to him for putting a big smile on our face...I'm pretty sure that's why we are happy to wait so long. Damn, I'd queue again if I had to!

"Once in the pearly glass sliding gates I'm greeted by 200,000 Easter eggs and **** all else but I really don't care (I got almost what I went for) because the staff are fantastic. They are upbeat and getting on with everything.

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"The music is playing great, uplifting tunes. I was singing along to 'Don't worry be happy' because at this point the wonderful Dionne Dobson had just clarified that there was no limit on wine.

Death stare

"Yes there are people that think social distancing doesn't apply to them because they have a layer of Lynx Africa or Old Spice to protect them but nothing a death stare doesn't fix.

"I had to balance a ridiculous amount of shopping in the smallest of trolleys because the big ones were taken up from people getting 10 items or less but the atmosphere while everyone was waiting to be served was great and a sense of closeness while standing six feet apart was extraordinary.

"So staff of Morrisons I salute you. Thank you for all that you are doing to keep our little town fed."

And across the borough in Grays, staff at the town's large Morrison store turned out to show support for one of their managers last night.

He has come under some criticism on social media for the way he dealt with issues in the queues there and some nasty comments were made!

"I detest hate posts"

Some people have offered support and among the comments condemning the negativity was this one: "I detest hate posts. The story about him was shared 23,000 times with a multitude of nasty comments from mindless people who work by automatic trigger and knee jerk reaction.

"I don't know him personally, I don't work with him, I was not present at the incident in question, I have no proof of what did or did not happen and neither did all the morons who shared the post.."

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And members of staff rallied to him, with Emma Mercer saying: "Huge thank you to our store manager at Grays Morrisons for all the support and ensuring our safety as best he can throughout these stressful times!

"And thank you to all the hard working staff who have stuck together and helped keep the staff morale as positive as possible! Love my little Morrisons family."

Morrisons declined to comment on the situation officially, but the staff in the store made their own point with a show of support by clapping their own local hero.