ONE store manager in Basingstoke helped some stranded shoppers with some hot drinks during the snowfall.

Shoppers and others parking at the Basingstoke Leisure Park were left in a tricky situation when the snow arrived on Friday, 1 February.

Unable to leave in their cars due to the condition of the roads, some of the shoppers were left in an awkward situation when they couldn’t stay in the Premier Inn nearby as it was full.

After that, they took to the Leisure Park’s McDonald’s, which is open 24-hours, and it was then that they encountered the manager.

Store manager Gladstone Makazhe had just made the decision to shut the restaurant due to the snow and ice, but decided to help the stranded shoppers.

Gladstone and his staff distributed free hot drinks to the cold people to warm them up.

He said: “The roads were really bad and I had made the decision to close the store due to the weather. There were a lot of people who were stranded nearby and some of them had to go to Reading.

“We had a group of people who came in to get out the cold and we set them up with some drinks but we were still going to close the store.”

However, it was then that he made the decision to let the group of ten and a dog stay overnight in the store.

Gladstone added: “The McDonald’s is open 24/7, but we had to close because of the weather. However, we couldn’t just kick them out with nowhere to go. We just had to ride the wave of what was happening.

“They were taken aback by the offer, but were really grateful.”

The group stayed in the building until 6am the next day when the store opened again.