A MUM was left embarrassed and hurt when a Tesco cashier refused to sell her alcohol because her 15-year-old son was with her.

Sally Lee was shopping in the Highwoods Tesco Extra store on Saturday when she was stopped at the checkout and told she could not buy eight cans of Coors Light because she was accompanied by a minor.

“I was absolutely gobsmacked by it,” said husband Darren Lee, 40, of Weyland Drive in Stanway, Colchester.

He added: “The staff weren’t even discreet about it.

“I can see why they might ask someone who is with a minor if it’s being bought for personal use but I can’t believe they wouldn’t sell to a mum who’s clearly there with her family.

“It wasn’t as if she had picked up cases and cases of beer and Jägermeister, it was part of a weekly family shop worth £110.”

Mr Lee has vowed the family will not shop in Tesco again.

“We only go there because we used to live that direction,” he added.

“Now we have Sainsbury’s on our doorstep and we have to go past Asda to get there. We won’t be going back there again.”

A spokesman for Tesco said: “As a retailer of alcohol, we take our responsibilities very seriously, and our colleagues are trained in how to prevent under-age sales, including sales where adults purchase alcohol on behalf of under-18s.

“However, we do ask colleagues to use common sense and we will be contacting Mrs Lee to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”