Rachelle McDonald was told to leave a bustling shopping centre because she did not have any shoes on.

An Auckland woman is fuming after being ejected from a popular mall because she wasn't wearing shoes.

Rachelle McDonald, of Panmure, said she was approached by a security guard at Sylvia Park shopping centre last Tuesday for "failing to adhere to the mall's policy".

She had forgotten her shoes and phone and rushed in, urgently needing to use a computer.

DAVID MACKAY/STUFF Rachelle wants people to have the option of not wearing shoes just like people have the option of wearing cultural clothing.

McDonald, who said she spent most summers barefoot, was taken aback when approached about her lack of footwear.

READ MORE:

* 15 things no one told me about living in New Zealand

* Italy catches Kiwi barefoot trend

* The Kiwi etiquette guide for travellers

"[Going barefoot] was a huge part of my Kiwi culture growing up," she said.

Security staff warned McDonald she could only enter the mall once she had shoes on, otherwise she had to leave.

She said: "People should have the option to wear what they want on their feet just as they have the right to wear what clothes they want".

She said many people have various reasons for not wearing shoes and no one should be criticised or discriminated against for doing so.

Previously, medical issues and surgeries had restricted her from wearing jandals, she said.

"A homeless person wearing no shoes has just as much of a right to go into Pak n' Save at Sylvia Park ... as anyone else," McDonald said.

Dani Lyons, of Botany, experienced a similar encounter with a Sylvia Park security guard in 2017.

Lyons said she and her son were approached by a security guard and ordered to leave.

"We were standing in the courtyard on concrete when we were told to wear shoes.

"The guard said it was policy but I had never heard anything like that. "

Lyons doesn't wear shoes during summer, adding "it's a Kiwi thing".

Sylvia Park centre manager Susan Jamieson said the shopping centre did not have a policy that required customers to wear footwear.

"However, we recommend that footwear is worn on travelators and escalators inside the centre."

Jamieson said some of the centre's retailers might have their own policies relating to "a standard of dress required for entry to their premises". ​