It's five to eight in the morning and The Mall shopping centre in Maidstone is deserted apart from a couple of dozen teenagers on their way to school.

The exception is the benches outside the Iceland store where a small group of pensioners wait patiently for the store to open.

The shop has dedicated its first two hours of trading from 8am till 10am exclusively for those shoppers over state pension age or who are particularly vulnerable.

The idea is partly to let them have first dibs on any items that may be in short supply and partly to help them avoid mixing with the general populace.

The clock ticks round, the shutters rise. There is no mad rush, more a dignified easing of stiff limbs as 14 elderly customers and one lady in a wheelchair make their way calmly into the store.

Two school girls who unwittingly happen along at that moment are turned away by a member of staff.

Inside the customers have their pick of frozen meats and ready meals.

A few hundred metres away, it's business as usual at Sainsbury's where all customers found the shop pretty well stocked with just a few exceptions. There were no toilet rolls and no pasta of any description, but there still some packs of tissues on the shelves.

Tomorrow, the supermarket chain has also announced it will dedicate its first hour of trading solely to the elderly or vulnerable. It is defining elderly as those over 70.

The special trading hour at Maidstone is from 7am till 8am.

KMTV reports on a similar event in Whitstable

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