Atherton Online

You shall be shocked, annoyed and in disbelief when you hear that a local booze shop in Essex would not serve a 92 year-old Whisky because she could not prove she was over the age of 18.

Diane Taylor was asked to show proof of age and identity before the girl behind the counter was willing to hand over the whisky to the great gran! The great gran of 3 gave the counter worker her over-60s bus pass, an OAP card and even her pacemaker certificate, but was still turned away because she could not provide a passport or driving licence.

It was the first time that the pensioner, who was born in 1919 turned 18 in 1937, has ever been asked to show ID when buying alcohol.
Diane, who is also a mother-of-two, said it demonstrated a "ridiculous" and "offensive" lack of common sense.

She said: "I asked the girl behind the counter to repeat herself three times, I just couldn't believe what I was hearing, I thought it was a joke.
"I can understand shops being strict with all the youngsters buying booze but surely there's a difference between a 92-year-old and someone of 18.
"I ended up storming out in indignation.  It is just ridiculous to ask someone of my age to prove they are an adult, I find it offensive.
"I have never been asked for ID before in my life but then I turned 18 in 1937."

Diane was on her my home from a check-up with her doctor when she went to buy a bottle of whisky for her son from the One Stop Shop in Harlow.

The widow produced a variety of identification for the shop assistant but went away empty handed on Monday October 17.

She added: "I was served by a girl in her 20s, I asked for a bottle from behind the counter and she asked if I had ID.
"I produced what I had on me, my bus pass for which you have to be 60, my government issued OAP card, my pacemaker certificate, which has my name on it, and in sheer desperation I pulled out my vehicle disabled bag.
"I don't see how anyone could look at me and think I needed to prove my age and I don't have a driving licence anymore or a passport."

A spokesman for One Stop Shop said the store had to enforce a strict 'no ID, no sale' policy or risk losing their licence.
He said: "Although we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused, staff at the store are required to ask all customers for ID as a condition of its licence to sell alcohol."

I think it is worth saying that I completely understand the reasoning behind the stores policy of always asking for ID... if they didn’t then I’m sure we would all be criticising them for making it far too easy to encourage underage boozing! In-fact the local authority shall more than likely be behind them in ensuring that they are following the strict policy and if they weren't they would risk either being severely fined or even forcibly closed.

Common sense however and obvious exceptions should be made... I mean for goodness sake sheer stupidity comes to mind and the up most of frustration. I cannot envisage anybody, in the nicest of respects to Miss Taylor that would think she was of the age of 18. Sheer idiocy on every single level I can think of. If they insisted upon Miss Taylor showing ID then what she provided in terms of her buss pass for one is in my opinion more than ample and even that is completely unnecessary. The spokesman for the store is transparently brainless if you think you should ask somebody of this maturity as to whether they are over the age of 18! Should we be congratulating the store for sticking to the rules? or is it just a case of sheer idiocy? My opinion is definitely the latter, question a teenager for sure, maybe a middle aged man or woman if necessary... but a clear 92 year old woman?
I wouldn’t be surprised if she became addicted to Whisky in shock after that extraordinary experience of her lifetime!