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JD Sports has suspended two of its staff members after one of its store workers allegedly called a gay couple "battymen".

The shop assistant is alleged to have used the Jamaican slang work - a derogatory term for gay men - when Gavin Matthews and his partner Craig Hards visited their local store in Eltham, south east London.

The couple, who have been together for one year, were hunting for a pair of new trainers at the shop on Eltham High Street over the Bank Holiday weekend when the male worker made the offensive remark, it is claimed.

Mr Matthews said he was "mortified" when he overheard a worker using the term in relation to him and his boyfriend.

The 35-year-old legal secretary said he was told that two store staff were subsequently suspended over the incident on April 5, originally reported by the News Shopper, after he made several complaints to head office.

He said he had been told that the results of an internal investigation into the incident would be revealed to him on Friday.

He told the Standard: "I was mortified. I have not heard that kind of talk before. I wasn't expecting to be treated like that as a customer - it was very offensive.

"My first thought was to go over there and speak my mind. He was totally oblivious to the offence he had caused - he was just standing there laughing."

He continued: "If I had been a young person, just coming out, then that would have been even more upsetting."

Mr Matthews said he had never encountered homophobic abuse in his local area since moving there almost 30 years ago.

Describing the incident, he said: "My partner walked into the store ahead of me. He said 'Hi' to the store assistant. I walked into the store and walked over to the trainers.

"There was this shop assistant in my way and I heard him say to his colleague 'those battymen over there'. He was laughing away as he stood in the shop doorway.

"I looked over at his colleague and he was so embarrassed. By this point my partner came back to me to ask what was going on. I thought I was going to get angry but I just left the store. My partner later said he had had worse [abuse] but I said 'that is unacceptable'. There is no way that someone in a customer service position should get away with that."

A spokesman for JD Sports today confirmed two store workers were suspended on April 18 in connection with the incident.

He added a customer service representative who had been employed by the company on a trial basis was no longer working there after their handling of Mr Matthews' complaint.

He said the sportswear retailer "deplored discrimination" and was taking the matter "very seriously".

In a statement, he said: "Mr Matthews informed JD Sports of his complaint via the online customer service centre following the incident on Sunday 5 April. A new member of agency staff, who was working on a trial period at the time, unfortunately failed to properly escalate the complaint to the senior management team, who became aware of this incident on Friday 17 April. This individual is no longer working on behalf of JD Sports.

"We deplore discrimination of any kind and take this matter very seriously and took action as soon as this mistake was realised. Two employees from our Eltham store were suspended on Saturday 18 April pending a disciplinary hearing which is scheduled to take place later this week. The head of our customer service team spoke with Mr Matthews yesterday and he is aware of the action we are taking and will be informed of the outcome of the disciplinary process."

A spokesman for gay rights charity Stonewall said: "It’s essential that employers provide adequate training to ensure their staff know that discrimination in the workplace, whether against colleagues or customers, will not be tolerated."