A PENSIONER told how she “felt like a criminal” when apprehended by a supermarket security guard after doing her weekly shop.

A rump steak in her trolley set off the theft alarm and, after what she describes as a gruelling interrogation which left her traumatised, he saw that a checkout worker had left a security tag on the pack.

Following the incident in the Lewes Tesco, and a letter from the retailer claiming security guards were employed by an “outside company”, the supermarket has only just apologised.

The 66-year-old, of Kingston, near Lewes, who did not want to be named, was “deeply embarrassed” by the ordeal and vows not to shop with Tesco again.

With a disabled husband suffering from MS, the woman was wheeling out essential items for the two of them when her trolley set off the exit alarm.

The guard pulled her over to a customer service desk and started going through her bags in full view of other shoppers.

She told The Argus: “He wasn’t what I would call polite. He was very curt.”

She even asked to be taken into a side room to deal with the matter but the guard ignored her.

She said: “It wasn’t discreetly handled and I was totally innocent. The whole experience was traumatic. It was awful.”

When the guard found the rump steak tag was a staff error, he waved her on.

She said: “He didn’t apologise. He just said: ‘You can go now.’”

The woman complained to Tesco but says she received a “less-than-satisfactory” letter.

She added: “Tesco absolved themselves of responsibility by saying their security guards are not their employees.

“At the end of the day, if I’m lucky I might get a £10 voucher to shop at Tesco. But there’s no way I’m going back.”

A Tesco spokesman said: “We’re very sorry for the upset caused and we hope to earn back her custom in the future.”