Think of the next user: New World customer slammed for 'bare bottomed' child inside trolley

"We've all been there with hot, grizzly kids, but please think of others," Foodstuffs says. Photo / Paul Taylor

A New World customer who allowed a "bare bottomed" child to ride inside a supermarket trolley through the Hastings store should have thought of the trolley's next users, Foodstuffs says.

A customer told the Hawke's Bay Today in a text message of their disbelief that a woman with small children had placed one of their kids in the food part of the trolley while shopping on December 30.

The child was wearing "not a stitch of clothing", the customer said.

"Please do not ask people of Hastings to condone your bad behaviour as a mother, ever again," the message read.

A Foodstuffs spokeswoman said she had spoken to management in Hastings New World, who were unaware of the incident.

"They would have been more than happy to address it had the other customer let them know at the time," she said.

"We've all been there with hot, grizzly kids and we don't know the circumstances, but we ask customers to please think of others and not to put bare-bottomed little ones in a trolley." The spokeswoman said New World Supermarket trolleys were cleaned on a "regular basis".

She urged Foodstuffs customers to strap their (clothed) "little ones snugly into the trolley whenever they are shopping".

"Safety first," she said.