Nurse boycotting Lidl after being accused of theft for eating cashew in store

A nurse is boycotting Lidl after being accused of theft for eating a single cashew in-store.

Yep, you read that right.

Anna Bagot claimed to eat a single loose nut whilst shopping in the store to check the quality of the dry fruit after previously alleging that she purchased a stale bag from the shop.

But after tucking into the singular nut, a staff member at the Fakenham, Norfolk branch accused her of theft, she claimed.

Anna said: "It was so so awful. I felt quite intimidated. It's not like I was having my lunch. It was half a nut - it's absolutely ridiculous.

"Honestly I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And with everything that's going on in the world at the moment, it just felt so trivial.

"I've worked all through Covid and now we're in a cost of living crisis. Nuts are a luxury and we can't all risk money on food that might be stale,” she stated.

SWNS

Anna claimed that the manager caught her in the act, allegedly stating: “‘It’s theft by deception’.

“I said, ‘it’s just one nut’. He was absolutely serious and I was really upset.”

At first, the 60-year-old didn’t realise it was the manager at the store who supposedly accused her of stealing, as he had his uniform covered up by a coat.

She recalled: "He said, 'Do you know it's theft? Because it's an unweighed item'. I explained and he unzipped his jacket.

"He just showed me his Lidl emblem and said, 'I work here, I'm a Lidl employee'. Later the cashier told me he was a manager."

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Anna, who has worked in the NHS for nearly 20 years, immediately headed to the checkouts after being confronted by the member of staff and paid for her goods - as she always intended.

She said she purchased a large bag of cashew nuts for £2.33 and returned one nut from her bag in a bid to make amends for the situation.

"I've just had 25 rounds of chemo, and with that and everything else going on in the world, a nut seems pretty insignificant,” she said.

"I won't go back after this,” Anna then claimed.

SWNS

Anna has since called Lidl's customer complaints department and asked them to look at the CCTV footage in a bid to prove she ate just one nut.

A Lidl spokesperson said: "We always aim to provide our customers with a pleasant and positive experience when shopping in our stores.

"Nevertheless, we kindly ask that products are purchased before consumption.

"Should a customer be unhappy with a product, we would always encourage them to get in touch with our customer services team."