A southern Spar store has been hit by complaints after customers raised concerns about conditions inside the shop following a breakdown of its air conditioning system.

Shoppers have alleged food melted on shelves, freezer units were affected and staff were left working in uncomfortable conditions at Colby Spar while they waited for repairs.

A customer who contacted Isle of Man Today and asked not to be named said staff had told them that a part had been ordered to fix the air conditioning more than two weeks ago.

However, Isle of Man Today understands that the air conditioning system was then fixed on Monday (June 22).

‘A lot of chocolate on the shelves melted and customers, including myself, had to ask if the food was safe to consume,’ the customer said.

They added: ‘We were told the fans inside the freezers also had to work harder to keep the food frozen because of the lack of air conditioning, which caused them to break, leading to food defrosting and ultimately being wasted.

‘Staff said they were not allowed to take extra breaks and were also asked to bring in their own fans from home to keep cool. I know one customer brought in a fan for staff after they said they felt faint and had headaches.

‘It seems there have been a lot of delays in getting this fixed, and the issue was ongoing since TT week.’

The complaints were also raised on social media, where an anonymous Facebook poster urged people to ‘avoid’ the shop and said they ‘feel sorry for the staff’.

One person commenting on the post wrote: ‘I was in the shop recently and I couldn't believe how hot it was.

‘So much chocolate was soggy in its wrappers, and they must have had to waste most of what they had in.’

Isle of Man Today contacted Spar with the allegations but had not received a response at the time of publication.