The Manager
Safeway Cowgate
NE4 9SZ

Dear Sir,

I was in your store yesterday in order to buy some baguettes, which I assume are freshly baked in your in-store bakery. As I had noticed on previous occasions, the cellophane wrapper for the baguettes did not cover their entire length, leaving some three inches of bread exposed.

Since I was due to eat the bread when I returned home, I was concerned that it remained in an edible and hygenic condition. I noticed one of my fellow shoppers knocking a neighbouring baguette to the floor and then returning it (the top three inches having been soiled) to the shelf. I chose my own baguettes carefully.

When I arrived at the till, I positioned the bread so that the ends were balanced on the box of gingerbread that I was also buying. This was to ensure that the exposed parts did not come into contact with the conveyor belt and other areas of your till, which I very much doubt are so clean that I could eat my dinner from them. I drew your checkout assistant's attention to the fact that I wanted to avoid soiling my bread, the packaging being insufficient to avoid this without her picking the items up and passing them to me to put directly into the bag I was holding.

Dismayed that your assistant picked up the gingerbread first, thus spilling my bread onto the conveyor belt, I decided to put my concerns to your customer services staff. The lady I spoke with was adamant that you are allowed to use the packaging and that it was not the fault of the store, since it had been decided by head office. I explained that my complaint is that your packaging is unsatisfactory to me, and that I wanted my points raising with the right people, in order to improve it.

Since I am not certain that I have been understood by any of your shop-floor staff, I have decided to write to you, in the hope you can sort something out. Since we are on the subject of bread packaging, perhaps you could also do something about the stottie packaging. The freshly baked stotties are immediately enclosed in sealed cellophane, without the air-perforations their scantily clad baguette counterparts enjoy. This causes the stottie to become rather unpleasant and damp. So, please will you see if this situation can also be improved, or relabel the stotties as sponges, which more aptly describes them.

Thank you for your attention, I look forward to your comments on these matters.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley Frieze.