STAFF and customers at an Iceland store fell victim to a hoax caller who told them to lick each other's feet and pretend to be vacuum cleaners to win a £3,000 prize.

The humiliating prank in Bitterne, Southampton closely resembles one at a Poundworld shop in Devon earlier this month - which police are investigating.

5 Staff at Iceland in Bitterne, Southampton, received a call from a man pretending to be from head office Credit: localdataimages.com

Shopper Michelle Simpson, 35, was in Iceland with her 16-year-old daughter Ashleigh, when an employee took a phone call from the prankster with an Irish accent.

The male caller posed as someone from head office who wanted a customer to take part in a competition.

Michelle agreed and was then given instructions over the phone from the mystery caller.

5 Bizarre tasks included getting Iceland employees to lick shoppers’ feet and pretending to be a vacuum cleaner Credit: Alamy

The bizarre tasks included getting Iceland employees to lick the shoppers' feet, crouch down to act as a stool for them to rest their legs on and even "pretend to be a vacuum cleaner".

He also claimed to be from head office and said he was offering a £3,000 prize for participating customers.

Michelle said: "He told us we could win £3,000 and electrical items from Currys.

"It all seemed so real and legitimate at first, he was really professional sounding and it certainly did not sound like a hoax."

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The incident took place on April 5 but Michelle only came forward after hearing about the two-and-a-half-hour ordeal suffered by Pamela Desmond, 55, and daughter Naomi, 24 in Poundworld in Barnstaple, Devon.

The pair were tricked into a series of humiliating acts including being ridden like human horses by another Irish-sounding phone prankster.

5 Pamela Desmond and daughter Naomi were tricked into taking part in a 'humiliating' hoax at a Poundworld store in Devon Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Michelle said during their incident the pair had to refer to the workers as "beast", and at one point she was asked to find a "tall and beautiful" person in the shop to pass the phone to.

Michelle said: "I couldn't find anyone who matched the description, but I found a small elderly lady.

"She was a good sport, bless her. She then took over from me in order the staff to do the strange things.

"We cottoned on that it was a hoax after around 40 minutes, we were tired, confused and it felt like they wanted us to hurt the staff with our feet.

"He wanted our numbers to contact us again, but we had had enough and just wanted to leave.

"It was very surreal. It just makes you wonder."

5 Staff at the Barnstaple store, pictured on its opening day, received a call from a man pretending to be from head office Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

5 The mother-daughter pair were offered £3,000 to take part in tasks including 'licking Poundworld staff's feet' and 'being ridden like horses' Credit: Rex Features

Iceland confirmed that their staff were duped by the caller.

An Iceland spokesman said: "We can only apologise to the customers involved for their experience at our Bitterne store.

"Our team also fell victim to this hoax."

Michelle has not contacted the police over her ordeal, but officers are investigating claims following the second incident at Poundworld.

Poundworld apologised to Pamela and Naomi and offered them a £200 voucher for the ordeal in their Devon store.

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