A 41-YEAR-OLD man was refused a bottle of liqueur at a supermarket because his wife had no ID.

Terry Almond, who works at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, was left speechless when cashiers at Sainsbury’s in Didcot said that although he could prove his own age, he was not allowed to buy a bottle of Crème de Cassis in case he gave some to wife Anna, 22, who had left her ID at home.

Last night the supermarket giant struggled to explain its policy and refused to say whether it would serve alcohol to parents who took teenage children shopping.

Mr Almond, of Brasenose Road, Didcot, said: “Initially, the lady on the checkout put it through, and I put it in the bag.

“But then she asked my wife if she had ID, and she said no.

“She asked for the bottle back and said she could not serve us.”

When Mr Almond told the store supervisor that he, not his wife, was buying the weekly shop, they still refused to serve him – claiming he could be planning to give her some of the liqueur.

He said: “I just fail to understand it. I was purchasing the alcohol, I put it through on my debit card, and I had ID.

“I asked what would happen if I had come in with a child, and they said that was different.”

He added: “It is ridiculous.

“I just could not believe the stupidity of it.

“I can understand that maybe kids aged 19 or 18 might buy alcohol for 16-year-old friends.

But it was fairly obvious I’m not one of those people.

“I don’t look like I’m a teenager – I’m 41 years old.”

Last night a Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “We try to sell alcohol in a responsible way and our policies are designed to deter under age drinking.

“Our colleagues on the checkout have to make a judgement call, which can sometimes be a difficult one, but we continue to err on the side of caution to ensure we are not encouraging under age drinking.

“If a colleague suspects that alcohol might be passed to aminor then they will not proceed to the sale, unless ID is provided by all involved.”

The spokesman declined to say whether stores would serve parents shopping with teenage children.

didcot@oxfordmail.co.uk