Last updated at 13:39 02 April 2008

A two-year-old girl was branded a thief by Woolworths staff after she helped herself to a pic 'n' mix sweet during a shopping trip

Isra Khan was with her mother Aishah, 23, when she grabbed the 20p false tooth-shaped sweet from a shelf and popped it into her mouth.

But within moments a member of staff at the store in Blackburn, Lancashire had stormed over to Mrs Khan and, in front of stunned customers, said: 'That's theft.'

An incredulous Mrs Khan was then forced to listen to a stern lecture about the health and safety rules of buying confectionary and pay for the sweet.

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Sweet tooth: Isra Khan was accused of theft during a shopping trip to Woolworths with her mother to buy a colouring book

Mrs Khan, a college student from Blackburn, said: 'I can't believe the way this staff member behaved.

'Anyone would have thought we had stolen the crown jewels but the fact is my daughter was simply doing what a lot of other kids often do.

'I'm sure a lot of little children interfere with stock in a shop when they are running around - no matter how much we tell them not to touch things sometimes they are too young to understand.

'I hardly think the loss of a 20p sweet is going to make much of difference to Woolworths' business.'

The incident occurred when mrs Khan was in Woolworths in The Mall, Blackburn, with her three children to buy a colouring book.

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Scene of the 'crime': The Woolworths store in The Mall, Blackburn. Isra's mother, Aishah, accused staff there of 'a total over-reaction'

She said: 'We were just walking passed the pick 'n' mix section and Isra picked one up.

'At first I thought that it was in a wrapper and she could put it back. But it was in her mouth and I wasn't about to make her take it out.

'She's only two. She didn't know that what she was doing was wrong and that when you look at the sweets you can't just take one.

'Then a member of staff came over and said, "That's theft" in front of all the other customers. I couldn't believe what I was hearing - I was humiliated.

'If this man had come over politely and asked me to pay for it, fine, but it was like Isra had stolen something really valuable.

'The fact is he was making a song and dance over a 20p sweet. Obviously I agreed to pay for it - but they went really over the top.

'I've got three children aged three and under and you can't have your eyes on each of them every second.

'It must have happened lots of times before with the sweets all being open like that.'

Mrs Khan, who is doing a social science degree at Blackburn College, said she regularly shops in Woolworths to buy household items and children's presents.

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The 'evidence': The 20p fake teeth sweets that attracted Isra's attention. Mrs Khan is now demanding an apology from Woolworths

'When I take the children out, it's a treat for me and I don't expect this,' she added. 'But I won't be going back until I get some kind of apology for Woolworths.'

A spokesman for the store said: 'Pic n' mix is sold in all Woolworths stores for 69p per 100g.

'For health and safety reasons all confectionery and food products must be paid for before being consumed.

'The prevention of theft or loss of stock is a priority.

'Whilst we understand the temptations our pic 'n' mix may hold with young children, the responsibility lies with the adult accompanying them to ensure they are appropriately supervised.'

Chris Allen, head of trading standards with Darwen Council, said: 'Ultimately, it is the parent's responsibility to keep an eye on their child.

'But we all know that young children may not yet understand what they are doing is wrong, and we would hope anything like this could be dealt with reasonably.

'If someone feels that they have been badly treated, we would always encourage them to complain to the company.'