A British pensioner was fuming after she was asked to pay 5p for a plastic bag – just to hold her fruit in Asda.
The 86-year-old grandmother, who has only been identified as Jean, told the staff member that she would “rather shove the bunch up her top” than pay extra to hold the bananas, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.
At the time of the incident, the feisty woman had been trying to buy a 78p bunch of bananas from Asda in Longwell Green near Bristol.
It has been a legal requirement for large supermarkets to charge five pence per plastic bag since last October.
However, government guidelines state that the tax should not be applied to small bags containing unpackaged foods.
Jean said: “I may be 86, but that doesn’t mean I will stand by and be conned.
“It is not about the five pence it is about the principal, and I don’t think is right.
“They must sell thousands of those little bags each week so think about how much those five pence’s add up to, and where does the money go?”
The incident took place on Thursday when Jean deviated from her usual routine of buying her fresh fruit from a local greengrocer.
She said: “I went to Asda because I just needed a few bananas. I put them in one of the small bags and took it to the till.
“The woman then said that will be five pence for the bag and I just couldn’t believe it.
“I said that’s not right it isn’t a proper shopping bag, and she said because it had handles it comes under the five pence rule.
“I just felt furious. I said I would rather shove the bunch up my top than pay the five pence.
“I mean just because it has handles it doesn’t make it a full-size shopping bag, I couldn’t fit my weekly shop in that could I?”
After a short argument the checkout woman allowed Jean to leave without paying the charge.