'Superstar' Rod from Asda Aintree alerts customer after smelling gas leak

Everyone at our Aintree store is so proud of their colleague Rod Massie who's been hailed as a lifesaver for alerting a customer to the smell of gas while delivering her shopping.

After Rod told customer Jacqueline Seanor that he could smell gas, she called her daughter Michelle who in turn contacted gas emergency company Cadent, who sent out an engineer.

After running tests, the engineer found that the levels of gas were high and shut off the supply. He then went back to the office and came back with two heaters, a thick blanket, and some socks to keep her warm, and also brought her a hot plate as her oven wasn't working.

Rod, who's 61 and has worked at the store since March this year, said: "I was just doing my deliveries in the Crosby area of Liverpool. I carried the shopping into the kitchen of lady's house for her and as I was unpacking the stuff onto the table I just said to her that I smelled gas.

"She said she couldn't smell anything and said it might have been because she'd just put the heating on, but I could definitely smell gas and I told her to get it checked out, and I'm so glad she did.

"It's important that we look out for people when we are on our deliveries and have a chat with them, especially the elderly who may not see many people."

Michelle told the Liverpool Echo: "My mum wasn't able to smell anything and because she's vulnerable and things don't always click right away she didn't really understand what the delivery driver was saying. When he said he could smell gas from in the home, she said 'I've just put my heating on so that would be why'.

She said the help of Rod and the Cadent engineer James was "invaluable."

"If it wasn't for Rod and James my mum might not have been here right now if she lit a candle," said Michelle. "I just can't thank them enough for saving not just my mum, but my family and possibly even her neighbours' lives."

Laura Moreau, the store's operations manager, said: "We are all amazingly proud of what Rod did. He really is a superstar; he stopped the unthinkable happening.

"He is such a character, always happy and smiling, and gets on well with all his customers."