Woolworths shoppers queue through aisles to pay for groceries

Shoppers in Queensland had a rude awakening yesterday when arriving at one of Brisbane's only supermarket chains to trade on Labour Day.

Major supermarket chains were forced to shut their doors yesterday for the Labour Day public holiday.

So those needing to urgently top up their grocery stocks flocked to Brisbane Airport DFO, where Queensland's only 24-hour Woolworths was permitted to open.

Vision obtained by the Courier-Mail reveal long queues snaking around the store for shoppers waiting to pay for their groceries.

"A lot of people were putting stuff back because they didn’t want to wait in line," frustrated shopper Ashah Miller told the newspaper.

Major Queensland retailers are currently forced to close on Labour Day, Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day.

"Woolworths welcomes the general liberalisation of trading hours as we believe it would provide our customers with greater choice and convenience," a company spokesperson told Nine.com.au

Eager shoppers may have experienced quieter queues if they had driven to an independent retailer, such as IGA, instead of a major chain.

Independent retailers are permitted to trade on the four major gazetted public holidays.

"Some did open, others didn't," Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland senior policy advisor Catherine Phan told Nine.com.au

"It could just be an awareness issue that some residents didn't realise some independent retailers were trading."