Store turns boy away as he tries to buy a loaf

Paul Ward sent his lad David to their local Aldi store in Selby while he was cooking some chips. But the lad came home with a long face after being turned away at the till.

The helpful youngster, who was on his bike, then pedalled the 300 yards back to the store to plead that he was only running an errand for his dad.

But he was again given his marching orders by staff who later said that young children were not allowed onto the premises unaccompanied in case they pinched something.

Yesterday Mr Ward said he was baffled by what had happened because his son had visited the same store several times before on his own without any problems.

The boy had also been allowed to wander around the aisles, collect the loaf and queue up at the till before being told he could not buy anything.

Mr Ward, 28, a self-employed web designer, said: "I sent David out to nip up the road on his bike and get me some bread to have with our dinner because I was busy making us some chips.

"The next thing I knew he came in looking upset, saying that they wouldn't let him buy anything.

"I just couldn't understand it because he had been in there two or three times a week over the previous few weeks on his own and he didn't have a problem.

"They had even let him get up to the till with the bread before they refused to sell it to him. I said 'go back again and tell them that I sent you to get it for me' and he came back saying the same thing."

Mr Ward rang the store and demanded an explanation. "When I called up at first the woman I spoke to said it was a new policy because some children had been stealing from there," he added.

"But then I spoke to the manager and he said it was a company policy which had been in force for a while. I can't see any sign of it on their website and there were no notices in the shop itself."

The father-of-three, who also has another son, seven-year-old Mark, and a one-year-old daughter, Isabelle, added: "Banning kids from going in the shop on their own because some have stolen in the past is discrimination.

"It's insulting and outrageous to tar all kids with the same brush. If someone had seen my son being turned away what would they have thought?

"I was hoping to get an apology from the manager or for him to say there had been some kind of misunderstanding but he just basically said 'it is my shop and I can do what I want'."

The store says it has a policy that under-16s are not allowed in unless accompanied by an adult but Aldi confirmed it was not a national policy and Mr Ward said there were no signs to inform customers what the rules were.

He accepted some corner shops with just one member of staff may have to restrict the number of children at any one time to stop pilfering.

"But this is a fully-manned supermarket, and David was on his own in the evening, had been in before and never caused any problems. It would have been perfectly simple just to keep an eye on him, if that's what they feel they have to do," he added.

"And after I phoned, they could even have met him at the door with the bread. But no.

"They had to put him through this ludicrous pantomime, which was really upsetting for him."

An Aldi spokesman said: "Although this is not a national policy, in consideration of all

our customers, we request

that all children under the age

of 16 are accompanied by an adult when entering our Selby store."

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