A supermarket worker in southern England is being praised for selflessly helping a mother who has two young children who are registered blind and have autism .

Amanda Wilkins says the employee, identified only as Lin, went "the extra mile" when both her girls "decided to go into meltdown" at the checkout at a Morrisons store in Basingstoke on Saturday.

"This very kind lady decided to help instead of judge," Wilkins posted to the company's Facebook page soon after:

Wilkins said Lin distracted one of her daughters, Holly, by letting her scan the items. It was "a dream come true" for the youngster, who "loves playing shops."

"It melts my heart to come across people that are prepared to go the extra mile, and little acts of kindness makes a massive difference to my world," she added.

She also posted a photograph of Holly scanning the items, with some help from Lin, to Facebook. The image has since gone viral. In the first 20 hours, it garnered almost 300,000 likes and was shared more than 52,000 times.

It soon came to the attention of Lin's boss, Simon Nellis, who proudly said that Lin would now be added to the store's "wall of fame."

The supermarkets HQ also heard of the beautiful deed, with a spokeswoman describing Lin as a "credit to the company."

"Lin is a great role model for all of us here at Morrisons," she wrote. "It's amazing how something small can make a massive difference to others and it's lovely to hear that one of your daughters dreams has been brought to life by this act of kindness."