A cancer patient from Basingstoke has thanked the Gazette for helping him organise a Sainsbury's home delivery order after weeks of being denied an online slot.

Within 48 hours, Anthony Martin, 57, from Romsdell, has got on the list for a home delivery after a five week battle.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, “We are contacting Anthony to arrange a home delivery slot and apologise for his experience, which is not a reflection of our policy.”

“We’re prioritising the elderly and vulnerable for our home delivery slots and experiencing extremely high demand. We continue to increase our capacity so that we can help as many people as possible and urge anyone who believes they are eligible for this service to keep trying to reach our customer careline team.”

Anthony was diagnosed with cancer in December 2019 after making a trip to the doctors.

The 57-year-old started chemotherapy in January after discovering lumps on his neck.

He said: “As I was not over 70 and did not have the virus, I was previously denied a home delivery slot. I have been trying for a few weeks to get Sainsbury’s to deliver to my door.

“I registered on the government website as a vulnerable person and have been off work for three weeks.”

After persisting with contacting Sainsbury’s, Anthony said: “Just to let you know I have just been off the phone to Sainsbury, they have said within 48 hours, I will be on the list, so I will wait until Sunday and try and put in an order.

“Thank you so much for your help. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”