"Jobsworths" kicked us out of shopping centre for wearing fancy dress - we just wanted to bring some fun

Two friends claim they were kicked out of a shopping centre after staff said they were not 'suitably' dressed.

Comedy actors Chris Cole and Paul Fox say eight security officers forced them out of Bluewater shopping centre in Kent when they were dressed in devil and vampire Halloween costumes.

The shopping centre says the men were “escorted” off the premises as their behaviour was “not in line with its code of conduct for guests”. Police were also called following reports they were “causing concern to members of the public” and provided the pair with “words of advice”.

However, Chris and Paul say they had only dressed as their self-created characters, Deville and Nostrils for some light-hearted fun.

The friends had planned to go to City Wall Wine Bar in Rochester to collect money for charity that evening. But, they decided to make a stop at Bluewater before, and headed there to do some shopping around 4pm. But shortly after parking and entering M&S, they were approached by shopping centre security guards who followed them through the shop.

Chris, a veteran of the Ukraine war, says that he and Paul did not interact with shoppers unless they approached them first, and do not scare children.

He said: “We didn’t get very far and then they stopped us and said ‘you’ve got to leave’. If it was dark, low light and we were jumping out from behind columns I would understand, but we had only been in there minutes. Although we look really scary, children really love us because children now are not frightened by Halloween.

“The best bit of all is Mr Jobsworth said ‘we can’t have you here, you’re scaring the children’ and at that point two little girls tugged on my coat and said ‘Happy Halloween’ and it could not have come at a better time – the kids were all doing that.”

Police confirmed their attendance at the shopping centre at around 4pm on Saturday (November 2).

A spokeswoman for the force said: “Kent Police was called to a report of two people dressed in Halloween outfits who were causing concern to members of the public inside Bluewater, Greenhithe. Officers attended and spoke to the two individuals and provided them with words of advice”.

A spokesperson for the shopping centre said: “On Saturday, two guests were escorted out of Bluewater by Kent Police and our security team as their behaviour was not in line with our code of conduct for guests visiting the centre”.