A 55-YEAR-OLD Colyford mother has hit out at a supermarket after it refused to serve her alcohol.

A 55-YEAR-OLD Colyford mother has hit out at a supermarket after it refused to serve her alcohol.

Kate Spencer, from Stanley Cottages, said the Co-op, in Seaton, had a 'police state' mentality because it would not serve her a bottle of wine, which she was buying for her daughter, Olivia.

The store said it stood by its decision to refuse to serve the alcohol.

She said staff did not see her with her daughter, who had forgotten her ID, but recognised the bottle she had tried to buy earlier. Mrs Spencer admitted to staff it was for her daughter.

She said: "Beware the zealot put in charge of the thin end of the irreversible police state wedge.

"The whole experience made me extremely cross. Our liberties are being curtailed at every juncture. If it is like that in Seaton, what is it like in Birmingham?"

Mrs Spencer later said the alcohol was in fact for herself, but was told she still could not buy it, because it could be for an 'alleged minor'.

She questioned if the Co-op quizzed the intentions of everybody who bought alcohol.

She added: "I have contacted the Co-op but they have only quoted their policy of under 25 - which both myself and my daughter wholeheartedly support.

"My question though, to which they provide no answer, is that where in the shop does it state that a mother cannot buy alcohol for her child?"

A spokeswoman for The Co-operative said: "The Co-operative Group stands by its decision to refuse the sale of alcohol to this customer, who freely admitted that the wine was for her daughter.

"All our stores operate a Challenge 25 policy. It is important to understand the sale may be refused, if there is even a slight suspicion that the alcohol could be for consumption by a minor.