Fareham teenager stunned as Co-op staff tell her: '˜You need ID for squirty cream'

SHOPKEEPERS who mistakenly refused to sell a 13-year-old girl a can of whipped cream, claiming she was '˜underage', have come under fire.

Teenager Natasha Davenport had been asked by her mum, Penny, to buy the can of squirty cream for customers at the family’s internet café, The Highlands Hub, in Highlands Road, Fareham.

But when the youngster attempted to pick up the can at her local Southern Co-operative store, in Gudge Heath Lane, staff said she was too young.

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The Henry Cort Community College pupil, who lives in Fareham, said: ‘When I put the cream on the counter the woman on the till looked confused and said that she needed to get the manager.

‘The manager said that they couldn’t sell it to me because it was an aerosol.

‘I was thinking “you don’t need ID for squirty cream – I can get deodorant without needing any ID”.

‘I was shocked. It’s pathetic. It’s squirty cream – it was only going to be used for hot chocolate. I don’t know what sort of danger it could be.’

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Sister Becca Raymond was stunned by the company’s decision and went to the store to question why the cream couldn’t be sold.

‘It was ridiculous,’ said the 20-year-old. ‘I think it’s stupid.

‘I went up there and asked them why they weren’t selling it to her and they said it was because she was underage.

‘All they are going to do with the stuff is eat it.

‘It’s like health and safety gone mad.’

When Natasha and her friend, Charli Brown, went to another Co-operative, in nearby Stow Crescent, she was able to purchase a can without any problem.

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A spokeswoman from Southern Co-operative has since apologised for the incident, which she said should never have happened.

The company official told The News: ‘Unfortunately the colleague who served the customer misinterpreted the training and information given to them.

‘We will speak to the store and we apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused.’

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