IN RESPONSE to your article on Thursday, August 2, the St John's Co-op did close in the afternoon of Wednesday, August 1, due to a serious computer fault that was beyond our control.

It is extremely rare that we are forced to close a store in such circumstances and we apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The St John's Co-op is no longer a Pioneer store, but it is one of the first Co-op supermarkets in the region to be converted to our new Market Town format following a £400,000 revamp.

DAVID MOCKFORD,

Chief Officer, Wales and Borders,

The Co-operative Group.