Staff at an Asda supermarket have come under fire from a parent after they reportedly sold a £2 Scratchcard to his seven-year-old son - despite him being below the legal age limit.
James Fletcher-Retallick has shared his "shock" after his son Ronnie was able to make the purchase with his pocket money, during a visit to a store in Folkestone, Kent, on August 20.
The current minimum age to buy National Lottery Scratchcards in the UK is 18, making Ronnie nine years younger than legally required.
During their evening shop, Ronnie is said to have gone up to the supermarket's cigarette counter by himself, where it's claimed a male worker first offered him sweets - before allowing him to buy a Scratchcard with his pocket money.
Asda has since apologised and a spokesperson says an investigation was launched following the incident.
However, the 47-year-old single dad is unsatisfied with the supermarket's response - and is demanding a clear explanation.
He said: "I'm disgusted that they've failed to properly acknowledge my complaint. I feel very, very let down by them. I just wanted to know it had been taken seriously, and how and why it happened. It's a serious offence.
"The store mustn't be training staff properly if they don't know not to refuse to sell restricted items to minors. Honestly, I'm still pretty shocked."
The dad says he was shopping while his son purchased the Scratchcard and wasn't aware of the transaction until Ronnie presented him with it as a gift.
He initially thought he had simply found it on the floor, but after taking a closer look, he realised it was brand new.
Mr Fletcher-Retallick continued: "It just seems impossible. We go there to shop weekly and I've always felt he's safe to spend his money while I shop - but I don't feel that now.
"I don’t really agree with gambling. I’m not into smoking and I don’t drink alcohol.
"Sure, this doesn’t immediately feel as dangerous as say selling a child fireworks. But in the long term it could be just as bad for him."
The parent recalls there being a big queue on the evening of the incident so he made his complaint during their next trip on August 29.
The ex-tiler, who is now a full-time dad, says he has been in contact with Asda since then but feels as if the incident isn't being taken seriously enough.
"I was told it would be taken incredibly seriously by the manager who called the day after I made my complaint. He said it would be a couple of days max before I heard back," he added. "I just wanted to know how this could have happened. It's very, very rare that I'd buy a lottery ticket. I've never bought one in front of him - I don't like him to get the idea.
"He had no idea that he shouldn't have bought it or that it was wrong. I've explained it wasn't his fault. I expect it just looked interesting, it was pink and sold at a counter with lots of sweets."
An Asda spokesperson said: "We would like to apologise and reassure Mr. Fletcher-Retallick that as soon as we were made aware of this incident, an investigation was launched within the store to understand how his son was able to purchase this product despite our robust policies surrounding age-restricted sales."
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- An original version of this story stated that you had to be 16 or over to buy a Scratchcard - this was changed to 18 last year and we are happy to update.
