A 77-YEAR-OLD pensioner has branded Co-op’s alcohol policy “pathetic” after a cashier refused to sell him beer when shopping with his grandson.

Retired purchasing manager Edward Lamb wanted to buy lager and a bottle of coke at the supermarket in Bishops Lydeard but, when he got to the checkout, the sales assistant asked his 13-year-old grandson Max for proof of age ID.

Mr Lamb said: “The thing that I find most offensive was that she didn’t speak to me and spoke directly to my grandson.

“I said to the girl ‘It is quite alright he is my grandson, he is with me’ and she said ‘Well, I can’t serve you, then’; so I asked Max to leave the shop and said I’ll buy it on my own, but then she said I can’t serve you because I know he is outside’.

“To me it is just pathetic, no common sense.”

After arriving back home empty-handed, Mr Lamb had to ask his 72-year-old wife and 43-year-old daughter to go to the shop for him and they were able to buy the same items without a hitch.

When Mr Lamb wrote to the company after the incident last month he was told the sales assistant believed he was buying the beer for his grandson and members of staff are trained to err on the side of caution.

Mr Lamb told the County Gazette that he found the letter illogical and offensive. He added: “The thing I find ridiculous is the assumption I am going to give it to him.

“I might just as well go into the chemist to get my prescription and be accused of drug dealing because I am with my grandson. It is totally over the top.”

A spokesman for The Co-operative Food said its Challenge 25 policy applies to anyone who is with the purchaser at the time.

He added: “On this occasion, the customer’s grandson was unable to provide proof of being aged 18 or over, and so the sale was refused.”