Man told he won't be served at Tesco if he buys food for homeless woman outside

A man has been left “disgusted” by supermarket staff after they told him he would not be served if he bought food or drink for a hungry homeless woman outside.

Daniel Heard, 40, from Lincoln, said he was told he would not be served at the Tesco Express store.

Mr Heard was attempting to buy a milkshake for the homeless woman when he was told by a senior manager he was not allowed to.

He said he goes into the store “three or four times a week” and buys reduced-price items to give to homeless people sitting nearby, Lincolnshire Live reports.

This time was no different. As he was walking to the shop he saw a homeless couple and asked them if they were hungry.

“I think they said yes, so I said I’d get them something nice,” he said. “I walked down the aisle looking for something for myself and then the woman ran across and popped in the shop to say she wasn’t hungry, but she’d love a milkshake.”

Tesco's management has admitted Daniel Heard should have been able to buy the food 

He said the woman was confronted by a member of staff who told her to get out as she could be stealing.

Mr Heard said what happened next was “absolutely disgusting”.

“The chap then turned to me and said don’t purchase it for her,” he said. “I said I’ll spend my money on what I want and he said if I did they wouldn't serve me.”

Mr Heard said the woman did get a milkshake in the end as a friend of his went to the shop afterwards and bought it for her.

But he was left furious by the incident - and later complained to Tesco.

“Every time something like this happens it scratches away a bit of my humanity,” he said. “A lot of them are just in a bad way and just need a bit of compassion.

“These people are starving and at the end of the day, they’re only going to put it in the bin.”

A Tesco Express (file photo) (Image: Birmingham Mail) 

The incident took place at the Tesco Express on the corner of High Street and Corporation Street in Lincoln on Sunday.

A spokesperson for Tesco said the incident did take place and apologised.

“The [homeless] individual in question is currently banned from the store due to threatening behaviour towards one of our colleagues,” he said.

“However, we appreciate that we should not have refused to serve the customer buying items in this instance and apologise for the error we have made.”