WHEN 40-year-old mum Karen Hamilton popped into the supermarket she did not expect to have to prove her age.

But staff at the Tesco store in Chineham shopping centre refused to sell beer to her, even though she had an ID card.

Mrs Hamilton, of Nursery Close, Chineham, said a young woman at the checkout insisted she needed proof that she was 18 or over. She said: “At first I thought she was joking when she asked if I was old enough.

“I find it funny now but at the time it was an inconvenience.”

The 40-year-old, who is studying at the University of Winchester to become a teacher, had done her Christmas shopping online with the supermarket giant, but had forgotten to buy beer for her parents, who had come from Weston-super-Mare to stay.

But when she took a 24-can pack of lager to the till, along with other frozen items for Christmas meals, she was refused service and told that her bank, credit or student cards were not acceptable as proof of age.

Mrs Hamilton said: “I gave the checkout woman my student card, which had my photograph and date of birth on it, but she said it was not a proper form of ID.”

“I asked if I could speak to the manager, but he said they have to support their staff in their decisions.”

Other shoppers in the lengthening queue shared Mrs Hamilton’s disbelief at what was happening.

It took a trip back home to collect her passport for the 40-year-old to be able to buy the beer.

She even had to make a third trip back to the store that day when she realised staff had not packed all of the frozen items she had originally bought, meaning she took two hours in total to buy her shopping.

Mrs Hamilton, who worked at Eli Lilly for 17 years, said she had also been questioned about her age at the store two weeks before this incident.

She said: “A young lad asked me if I was old enough to buy alcohol, and we both just laughed. Before that, it had been years since I was asked for identification.

“I understand that they have to be careful but I could not understand why they could not say they had made a mistake.”

Tesco says it operates a Think 21 policy for purchases of alcohol where anyone looking under 21 has to prove they are 18 or over.

Mrs Hamilton’s husband Ian was so irritated by the incident that he sent an e-mail to Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco, asking the company to pay for a suitable ID card. He wrote: “I fully support Tesco’s efforts not to sell alcohol to the under-aged but even with the most sympathetic eyes my wife is a long way past 21 (sorry dear). I really feel this was a case of over-zealous behaviour, with a reluctance or strength of character to admit a mistake had been made.”

Mrs Hamilton said: “It did not spoil my Christmas – we had a really good time. A lot of my friends and family found it really amusing and when we go out to the pub they ask me if I’m old enough to drink.”

David Nieberg, spokesman for Tesco, said the company does not accept student cards as a form of identification.

He added: “All I can do is to apologise. The cashier suspected she was underage and she should take it as a huge compliment.”