Pharmacy worker claims she was turned away by Worksop Poundstretcher staff as she posed a ‘health risk’

Sophie Rafferty, 21, who was buying a box of cereal ahead of her 10-hour shift on Tuesday, tried to reason with the checkout assistant but was told ‘no, you need to leave’.

Unbelievably, the store’s manager then told the pharmacy worker ‘we’re not serving you - we’re putting our lives at risk having you in here’.

Gobsmacked Sophie said the cereal would have provided her only meal after starting at 8.30am until lunch at 1.30pm - at a time when chemists are working flat-out to keep the public healthy.

She said: “At the minute we’re really busy and eating is essential to keep going until lunchtime.

“She (the checkout assistant) said to me ‘do you work in a pharmacy? We’re not serving any keyworkers or NHS staff because of the risk to our health’.

“I said to her ‘surely that’s not right - are you having a laugh?’ and she said ‘no, you have to leave’.”

“It’s disgusting - especially when we’re providing a vital service - it upset me because I’m so shattered and stressed out anyway.”

Later the same day a receptionist at Newgate GP Surgery told Sophie how she had also been refused service at the same store on Newgate Street.

Sophie said: “It’s so busy at the moment - we’re putting ourselves at risk for other people’s health and we’re seeing ill people every day.

“If someone has a cough or a cold we’re the first port of call.”

Furious Sophie told how stringent safety measures such as protective clothing and having only two people in the shop at any one time meant the pharmacy was doing its best to protect public health.

However she added: “This is a lot more than they were doing - there were no signs up about coronavirus and no distancing measures in place.”

She added how others in the shop made their disapproval with the staff’s shocking behaviour known.

She said: “An older gentleman overheard and put his shopping back and left - another lady told them she thought it was disgusting what they were doing.”

Toby Burnett whose wife is a GP at Newgate GP Surgery labelled the situation ‘a bit rich’.

He said: “What would happen if NHS staff said we’re not serving staff from Poundstretcher?

A spokesman for Poundstretcher said the incident arose ‘from a misunderstanding in which a staff member requested that the customer make payment by card’.

He said: “We can confirm that all NHS staff are welcome to all of our stores nationwide.

“Our investigation has found that there was a heated exchange between the customer and our employee – we can assure you that there was no intention to refuse to serve the customer at any time.

“The police have also fully investigated this incident and they have confirmed that there is no case to answer and they are not taking this any further.

“We would like to fully apologise for any misunderstanding that may have occurred – we will be contacting the customer directly to see how best to resolve any dispute.”