Cheltenham’s Poundland store was still selling a controversial artificial pumpkin this lunchtime – despite a pledge to pull the product from shelves across the country.
Earlier this month, Poundland began stocking polystyrene pumpkins on its shelves ahead of Halloween.
Uproar broke out on social media because polystyrene can take up to 500 years to biodegrade.
Several days ago, a spokesperson for the chain store said: “Decorative items such as these are designed for indoor use and for re-use in future years. However, I hope you’ll be pleased to hear while these items have been on general sale in many retailers, we confirm we’ve taken the decision not to re-purchase them and remove them from sale today.”
Earlier today Park Post received a tweet from Poundland to confirm the items had definitely been pulled from the shelves.
Hey @Poundland are you still selling polystyrene pumpkins?
— Natalie Turner (@natal13_turn3r) October 25, 2018
Hi Natalie – No these have been taken from sale. Thanks, Zoe.
— Poundland (@Poundland) October 25, 2018
But at around midday today, the Cheltenham store was still selling them. Park Post has tweeted Poundland for further comment.
Reporters @natal13_turn3r and @BryonyFB have been investigating the story of some scarily bad for the environment pumpkins 🎃 @Poundland pic.twitter.com/6WK51ZY2u0
— Park Post (@ParkPostNews) October 25, 2018