A MUM has slammed a store for refusing to sell her alcohol — because her 16-year-old daughter was with her.

Michelle Nokes, 44, claimed a member of staff at the Co-op in Bridport would not allow her to buy drink for a bank holiday family barbecue.

The Guide leader hit out at the store for its ‘ludicrous and insulting policy’ and said she would not be shopping there again.

Mrs Nokes went into the supermarket to buy a bottle of wine, a bottle of Bacardi and a bottle of lemonade but was refused service because she was with her 16-year-old daughter Gemma.

She said: “I cannot begin to tell you how infuriated I am at this at this ludicrous and insulting policy. I have been a regular customer of this store for nine years. During this time I have purchased all kinds of goods, including alcohol, with and without my children present.

“What now gives them the right to assume that, because my daughter has reached 16 years of age, I am no longer a responsible parent, and it is up to them to decide whether I am ‘allowed’ to purchase alcohol?

“I was not breaking any laws. It is not illegal for me to purchase alcohol. It is not illegal for me to take my 16-year-old daughter shopping with me, when I purchase alcohol.

“And if I so choose, it is not illegal for me, as a parent, to allow my 16-year-old daughter to consume alcohol in the privacy of our own home. In fact it is not illegal for my 16-year-old daughter to consume a glass of wine, beer or cider that I have purchased with a meal, on licensed premises.”

Mrs Nokes, of Loders, said the issue had nothing to do with the law. She added: “I am all for policies and rules that protect young people, and appreciate the need to prevent underage drinking, but it has come to something when a teenager working in a supermarket can dictate to a middle-aged mother what she is or isn’t allowed to spend her money on.”

Mrs Nokes, who works in a secondary school, said her daughter had never tried to buy alcohol at the Co-op or anywhere.

“She is not that kind of girl, we are not that kind of people. We are just normal, hard-working people trying to have a barbecue on a Saturday night.

“I fully appreciate that we need rules and regulations to protect young people and I don’t want our youngsters getting drunk in the streets behaving badly but I wonder where we get to the point where a supermarket’s responsibility overrides the parents’ responsibility.

“But I wasn’t buying it for Gemma anyway it was for me and my husband.”

Mrs Nokes has written to the Co-op and its head office to express her disgust.

A Co-op spokesman said: “The Co-operative Group takes the issue of selling alcohol seriously.

“All our stores operate a Challenge 21 policy in which a potential purchaser of age-restricted products who appears to be under the age of 21 years should be asked to provide proof that they are 18 or over.

“If none can be provided then the sale must be refused.

“It is important to understand that the policy may also be applied to anyone who is with the purchaser at the time if we have reason to believe the alcohol could be consumed by someone who is under 18 years of age.

“All our store staff receive frequent refresher training regarding age-related products and, in this instance, store staff took the correct course of action in what was an awkward situation for all concerned.”