Frustrated shoppers have described their struggle accessing a Waitrose store after both lifts in the car park broke down.

Problems at the Tenterden branch have persisted for the past month with at least one regularly out of action.

But now both have failed elderly and disabled customers say they will find it more difficult until they are fixed.

Many customers use the lifts to enter the store rather than contest with ramps to the main street-level entrance.

But when shoppers arrived on Monday morning to find the route unavailable they were left disappointed at the lack of signage at the store and the fact both have now broken following several weeks of issues.

Jenny Stevens regularly uses the store and said bosses need to act quickly to resolve the issue, which they have promised to do.

“I normally walk to the store but my husband is disabled, there are no spaces in the top car park so we came down here to use these and now we can’t access the lifts,” the Tenterden resident told KentOnline.

“He’s 90 next week and normally uses a four-wheeled walker because it’s safer than a stick, it’s a short walk but this has really had a knock-on effect.

“This is a good shop and it’s obviously a hiccup and if one was working it wouldn’t matter but for both, it’s a real shame.”

Many shoppers make use of the extra disabled spaces by the lifts due to the limited amount in the upper part of the car park.

Mike Smith is in his late 60s and thinks the closure is poor form from the supermarket giant.

He said: “It’s a nightmare, there’s always generally one out of action.

“You see the demographic of people around here, this is essential, it’s why you park down here so you can go right into the store.

“We only knew it had happened because of friends, otherwise we would’ve turned up expecting to use them, it’s really disappointing.”

Christina Brown wants to use the store more regularly in the future but says she needs the issue with the lifts resolved.

She said: “I’ve not come here in a while but I plan to use this store every Monday when I’ll either have my mum, dad or sister who all have blue badges. I’ve come here and realised I must walk all the way - there’s no notice elsewhere to say this.

“I prefer parking here because the disabled bays in the top part of the car park are hard to get into, it’s really not ideal.”

In a statement, Waitrose said it is appreciative of its customers sticking with them.

A spokesperson said: “The team is working really hard to get them back up and running.

“We’re really grateful to our customers for bearing with us while we do this and thank them for their patience.”

A timescale for repairs has not been confirmed by the company.