Are you old enough to own a spoon? Woman asked for ID when buying teaspoons in Tesco



A shopper was asked for proof of age when she tried to buy a packet of teaspoons from a supermarket.



Emma Sheppard was forbidden to buy the cutlery unless she showed identification to a shop assistant at her local Tesco.



Till operators at the store in Evesham, Worcs, wouldn't sell the pack of five teaspoons on Monday night as part of their 'Think 25' scheme, which demands ID from people who look under 25 when buying certain goods.

Stunned: Emma Sheppard wasn't carrying ID when she was challenged in Tesco as she didn't think she would need to prove her age to buy spoons

Emma, 21, from Malvern, had spend around £70 on a food shop with her partner John, 20, when the female checkout assistant asked her for identification, before holding up the offending teaspoons.



Emma, a housewife, said: 'When the assistant asked me for ID I thought John had sneakily put some booze in the trolley, but then when she held up a pack of spoons we looked at her like she was an idiot.



'We were both a bit taken aback really - what are you going to do with a packet of spoons that means you need ID to buy them? In this crazy world we live in, you have to be over 18 to buy teaspoons it seems.

'I'm 21, I would have understood the need to ID me if it was alcohol, but it wasn't. It was teaspoons I need to stir my cup of coffee in the morning.



'I didn't have my ID on me as I was only doing my weekly food shop and was not buying any alcohol. We couldn't get the spoons in the end, and I rather angrily threw my shopping in the trolley, breaking my eggs.



'I felt like saying "excuse me while I go on a mad rampage around Evesham with teaspoons"'.



Tesco sell teaspoons for as little as 57p for their 'Value' pack of five.

A Tesco spokesperson said: 'Some utensils, such as knifes, will carry a 'Think 25' alert when scanned through the checkout. There is an element of common sense involved and this was a mistake, for which we are sorry.'