A father from Trowbridge was left baffled when he was refused Lotto tickets at an Asda store, because his son was with him.

Trevor Haimes, 37, and eight-year-old Zak had done their weekly shopping at the store in Frome on Saturday afternoon and went to a kiosk to buy lucky dip Lotto tickets.

However, when Zak asked for the tickets, the cashier refused to sell them to him. Then the shopworker refused to serve Mr Haimes, on the grounds he could give the tickets to his son.

Mr Haimes, of Carders Corner, said: “Initially, I thought they were joking. But the third time they said they couldn’t serve me, the woman said I was teaching my son to gamble. She said I was ‘unsaleable’.

“I said that I’d taken him down the beer aisle, and now I was taking him to a tobacconist to get a lottery ticket, so was I teaching him to drink and smoke? It’s madness. “They obviously weren’t for him.”

Mr Haimes even asked Zak to go and stand in the entrance of the store, just outside the building, and again asked for tickets but was still refused.

Eventually, Mr Haimes asked for a refund on all his shopping, which came to about £50.

He said: “When she said, sarcastically, ‘Have a nice day, sir, thank you’, I thought. ‘I’m not having this,’ and asked for a refund on my shopping. “It was the shame and embarrassment, really. It’s absurd.”

That afternoon, Mr Haimes and Zak went to several other stores to buy lottery tickets and had no problems being served, despite Zak asking for them.

“We went to Sainsbury’s, Asda in Trowbridge and a petrol station. Zak asked for the tickets and we got served each time,” said Mr Haimes.

Mr Haimes has complained to Asda, but the firm has backed its staff.

An Asda spokesman said: “We’re committed to following legislation around National Lottery sales.”