A WILLITON shopper has accused the village's embattled pharmacy of a "whitewash" after bosses denied claims that staff had refused to sell her toothpaste because a pharmacist was late for work. The woman said she went to Lloyds Pharmacy, in Robert Street, just before 9.30am on Wednesday to buy a tube of toothpaste - only to find staff members standing in the dark and refusing to open the store. She said she was told the store could not open until the pharmacist arrived and explained to staff she did not want to collect a prescription or buy medicine, simply toothpaste. "A woman stuck her head through a gap in the door and basically told me it was illegal to sell toothpaste without the pharmacist being present," she said. "I said all I wanted was toothpaste but was again told the store would be breaking the law if it sold anything before the pharmacist arrived. "I just could not believe what I was hearing. Now I know why people have complained about the service at this branch of Lloyds." But Nick Mortimer, superintendent pharmacist at Lloyds Pharmacy, said Williton store staff had no recollection of a customer being refused the chance to buy toothpaste. He appealed for the customer to contact Lloyds directly to enable the company to investigate the matter further and apologised for any convenience the late opening of the pharmacy had caused. In a statement he said: "I would like to apologise to all customers who were waiting outside our pharmacy in Robert Street for the inconvenience caused by the delayed opening on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, our pharmacist was late arriving due to severe traffic hold-ups which were outside of his control. "In accordance with professional guidelines, we are not permitted to open without a pharmacist being present. "However, when the pharmacist arrived at 9.30am the pharmacy was opened straight away. "We are not aware of a customer being refused the opportunity to buy toothpaste and would ask that this customer contacts us directly so that we can look into the matter." At the end of August, the Free Press revealed that health chiefs would be keeping an eye on the prescription service provided by the Williton branch of Lloyds following complaints from villagers. Disgruntled patients claimed there had been problems with incomplete prescriptions, long queues and poor service. At the time, Lloyds said it was aware there had been "issues" and said a new pharmacy manager would be appointed within weeks.
