Lidl has apologised after shoppers in Birmingham noticed that huge knives were being advertised as a child’s toy. The German supermarket giant was forced to respond after photographs from shoppers of the labelling blunder spread on social media. The knives were listed as ‘toys’ and were being sold for £9.99 each at a branch in Kingsheath, Birmingham.
Residents called out the blunder as “shocking” and particularly poor taste given that the West Midlands area suffers from the highest rate of knife crime in England.
An image of the dangerous gaffe was shared on a West Midlands Facebook community page before the supermarket was alerted about the mistake on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Giles Wallwork, a concerned customer, joked: “Some quality bargains at Lidl King’s Heath…..”
Ash, a social media worker for Lidl, responded to the mistake on X: “Hey! We’re so sorry about that and have contacted the store to get these moved to the correct location and thank you so much bringing this to our attention.”
One local resident, Shajid Naqvi told The Sun that the oversight was absolutely “shocking” to see “especially with all the knife crime happening in Birmingham”.
The 56-year-old local said: “Knife crime is an issue in Birmingham, especially following the murder of Cody Fisher – so to see a retail giant make a blunder like that is shocking really.”
On Sunday, a 15-year-old boy died following a stabbing in West Bromwich. At the time, Det Ch Insp Laura Harrison, from the West Midlands force’s homicide team, said: “It is a tragedy that yet another young life has been lost as a result of knife crime.”
On Monday, two men were jailed for life after murdering Cody Fisher, a semi-professional footballer, on a nightclub dancefloor in Birmingham on Boxing Day, 2022.
The West Midlands Police area recorded 5,188 knife offences – an increase of 16 percent – between March 2022 and March 2023.
There has also been an annual five percent increase in knife crime across the country as a whole in the same period.
Express.co.uk has approached Lidl for comment.
