It should have been a simple case of pie and sell.

But Linda and Tony Gilkes were left piping hot with fury after their local Morrisons refused to sell them meat pies before 9am.

“I wanted eight large sausage rolls and two steak bakes,” said Linda, 62, from Thorntree.

“It was 8.45am and there were no pies at all displayed.

“I could see bags and bags of pies, all wrapped up on cages behind the counter. The trolley was ready to be pushed out.

“But when I asked for the pies, I was told: ‘We can’t sell the pies until 9am’. I could have had a fruit pie, but not a meat pie.”

(Image: Keane Duncan)

A queue of five other confused customers formed at the ‘Oven Fresh’ counter in Berwick Hills Morrisons to demand their pastry fix last Wednesday.

But staff were determined to abide pie the rules, telling customers the store had a new ‘no meat pies before 9am’ policy.

“If they hadn’t been cooked, that would make sense,” said grandmother-of-four Linda. “But the fact that they were baked, well - it’s ridiculous.

“If I could’ve reached over, I would have grabbed them myself.

“I wasn’t waiting 20 minutes so I went to Cooplands. I was disappointed to say the least.”

She added: “They are dictating to me when I can buy pies and when I can shop.”

Husband Tony, who eats fish and chips three days a week and rarely touches pastry, branded the decision “stupid”.

The 76-year-old said: “When you’re faced with that situation at the counter, you start thinking: ‘Is it Candid Camera? Is it April Fool’s Day?’

“You can have fruit pies, but you can’t have meat pies!

“We have always been able to get the pies before 9am. The decision makes no sense. I can’t see any logic.”

Morrisons told The Gazette there is no “hard and fast policy” and meat pies are simply baked for 9am to match customer demand.

But Tony suggested a more sinister explanation.

“There’s more to this,” he said. “Morrisons have got their own agenda.

“They don’t want people to know about it, They have given too many ridiculous stories about why. They contradicted themselves over and over.

“Who do they think us customers are? We are the people paying their wages.”

The supermarket chain, with 500 stores up and down the UK, has now swallowed a piece of humble pie and issued an apology to the couple for the mi-steak.

A spokesman said: “It appears that in this case we should have sold the customer their pies.

“We apologise for any inconvenience it might have caused.”