MORRISONS stores in Dorcan and Regent Circus have introduced a ‘quiet hour’ to help people with autism shop around the store.

The shop is working with the National Autistic Society who are leading the Quieter Hour initiative to run every Saturday from 9-10am.

During this time the store will help autistic people, who can find it difficult to process noisy and busy environments, by dimming the lights, avoid making tannoy announcements, reduce movement of trolleys, and even turn checkout beeps and other electrical noises down.

Daniel Cadey, from the National Autistic Society, said: “Around 700,000 people are on the autism spectrum in the UK.

“This means they see, hear and feel the world differently to other people, often in a more intense way. Morrisons Quieter Hour is a step in the right direction for autistic people who find supermarket shopping a real struggle.”

The trial could lead to the initiative being rolled out to more stores in the UK.

Chris Deacon, manager at Morrisons on Dorcan Way, said: “Our initial trials showed there is a need for a quieter shopping experience. We hope that these changes make a real difference for some of our customers in store.”

This has been welcomed by a parent in Swindon whose shopping experience is usually more difficult than most due to the triggering environment.

She said: “Having a child myself with ASD and knowing how difficult a simple shopping trip can be, I think this is a great move by Morrisons’. We hope other supermarkets follow Morrison’s lead on this too. It is a good thing. A positive step in the right direction.”

Jacqui Watt, co-chair of Swindon SEND Families Voice said: “At Families Voice, the parent carer forum for Swindon families with children that have special educational needs and disabilities, we are really pleased to hear that Morrison’s are having a quiet hour in their stores.

“It has gone down really well with many of our members whose children struggle with the overwhelming experience that visiting shops has on their children with autism and other anxiety related conditions, such as the noise, loud announcements and moving the products around regularly amongst other things.

“We are grateful to Morrison’s for thinking of what would make things easier for these families, and we hope this will be happening permanently from now on and that this is not just a temporary tokenistic gesture.”