Exclusive: Tesco lambasted over refusal to recognise Army ID cards

Christine Lockwood, 60, has slammed "brainwashed" employees at the Tesco Extra store in Seacroft, Leeds, who said her grandson's military ID card – complete with photograph, date of birth and Government hologram – was not classed as valid identification under Tesco company policy.

Although her grandson was merely helping with her weekly shopping, and the two bottles of Bacardi Breezer in her laden trolley were for her own consumption, Mrs Lockwood was told she "might have been buying it for him".

Her grandson – who begins his first tour of duty with the British Army later this summer, most likely in Afghanistan – consequently produced his military ID but was told by three different members of staff that only a passport or driver's licence would do.

The family eventually departed the store in disgust, leaving more than 100-worth of groceries unpaid for.

Mrs Lockwood said: "I am livid, I really am. I'm angry and upset regarding the Tesco policy, and my being treated as if I'm breaking the law – which I clearly am not. But I am incandescent with rage that they will not recognise a valid ID from the British Army.

"It's very demoralising for a young man to be treated with disdain when showing the ID he is proud of. I think it's disrespectful to him, and to the Army."

Mrs Lockwood's grandson, who has asked not to be named, had been helping his grandmother and her husband Fred, 65, with their shopping while home on leave. In three months' time he will begin his first tour of duty, and expects to be sent to war-torn Afghanistan.

"We'd each been getting different bits because we were in a hurry – we were going to a funeral the next day," Mrs Lockwood said. "I asked him to get me the Bacardi Breezers."

Mrs Lockwood was told by a check-out girl and her supervisor that her grandson "had been seen by security putting two bottles of Bacardi Breezer in the trolley," and must produce ID. Both they and an assistant manger insisted his Army ID was not enough.

"It was as if they'd been brainwashed," Mrs Lockwood said.

The vast Tesco on Seacroft Avenue is just a few minutes' drive from the family's home in Whinmoor, and Mrs Lockwood has shopped there every week since it opened.

"With food and petrol I spend about 6,000 a year there," she said. "I won't be going back."

She has now written an angry letter to Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy about the incident.

"I am a law-abiding person and feel insulted that I can be treated as if I am going to break the law," she wrote.

Describing Tesco's policy as "paranoid", she asked: "Does it mean that if I ever shopped again in your supermarket with my younger 14-year-old grandson, I would be refused alcohol because I might give it to him?"

Tesco introduced its "Think 25" policy last year, with staff told to request ID from anybody buying alcohol who looks under 25.

A spokesman for the supermarket giant said it could not accept Army identity cards because the Ministry of Defence will not provide examples of genuine military ID for staff training purposes.

"We take our responsibility towards the sale of alcohol very seriously," the spokeswoman said.

"We operate a strict 'Think 25' policy, meaning if someone looks under 25 and does not have identification they will not be served alcohol.

"Additionally, if our staff suspect alcohol is being purchased for an underage person, the sale will be refused.

"We would like to accept military identity cards as a form of ID, but the MoD have security concerns about sharing information with retailers on their ID cards."