Supermarket giant Tesco has apologised to a shopper who went into one of its stores wearing a bikini top and was confronted by a member of staff. The incident happened on Monday, one of the hottest days of the year, when a store employee approached the woman and said she was not appropriately dressed.
The shopper said she was left 'fuming and upset' after the incident in the Tesco store in Driffield, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, HullLive reports. However, the woman was later comforted by another Tesco employee before the manager of the store apologised for what had happened.
The woman, writing on social media, said she had worn the bikini top along with shorts because of the exceptionally hot weather.
Read more: Wildlife charity issues plea not to forget animals during heatwave
She said: "I've never felt so humiliated and discriminated in front of everyone just for wearing a bikini top and by a staff member. The staff member came to me when we was at self scan, she'd already let me walk around the whole shop then came to me in front of everyone, people left right and centre, and said, 'next time can you wear a t-shirt, even men aren't allowed in without their t-shirts it's the policy'."
"A bit of a heated argument happened and she ended up telling me to grow up and said 'good' that she'd lost me as a customer, well that didn't help the situation whatsoever," she added.
A younger employee subsequently comforted the woman, giving her "a cuddle" and got the store manager. She said: "He came outside and apologised repetitively for how she went about it the complete wrong way. I explained how it's not normal for me to wear a top this like but it's 35+ degrees, I don't just carry t-shirts around with me. I even explained how many of other women/girls were going in with some of their cleavage showing and very tiny belly tops with no bras on! But somehow I was the only exception?"
"He said he understood it's not normal weather and even schools and train services have changed their rules to accommodate this weather and said he'd have a meeting with her."
A Tesco spokeswoman said: "We're sorry for the way this was handled, have apologised to the customer involved and reminded colleagues in store to be courteous to our customers at all times."
Read Next
-
Can dogs eat ice cubes to keep cool? Expert advice as temperatures soar
-
Metro passengers advised not to travel on Tuesday due to the heatwave warning
-
Brits swelter in 'hottest night on record' as minimum temperatures stayed above 25C
-
When the heatwave is set to end and temperatures will drop in North East
-
Heatwave: Water demand in the North East rises by 20% as the Met Office issues amber weather warning
