An 86-year-old great-grandmother has been banned for life from Sainsbury's in a dispute over a chicken.

Police were called to the supermarket after Kitty Norris rowed with staff and became involved in a tug o' war with a shopping trolley.

The elderly shopper said she ran into problems while trying to buy some chicken from the delicatessen counter.

A security guard at the store took offence at Kitty's comment to the assistant that she "get herself some glasses" and told her he "didn't like her attitude".

She claims he told her to leave and refused to let her pay for her shopping.She said: "I couldn't believe what he was saying. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"He called for another security guard and then a manager came down as well.

"One of them tried to take my trolley from me but I wasn't having it so I held on to it.

"He kept pulling at it like it was a game of tug o' war but all I wanted to was pay for my shopping."

Kitty, from Tilgate, near Crawley, said she was embarrassed by the incident and worried that other shoppers would get the wrong impression of her.

Staff called police to the store in Queen's Way, Crawley, and told them there was an elderly woman shouting aggressively and waving her stick about.

They managed to calm the situation and persuade Kitty to leave the shop.

She was told she has been banned from the store, where she has shopped for years.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's confirmed an incident took place but would not give further details or provide CCTV footage to support its claims.

He said: "We make every effort to provide a pleasant shopping experience for our customers. If we feel an individual is behaving inappropriately towards customers or colleagues, we may take the decision to ban them from the store. This decision is never taken lightly and we always advise the customer in writing that they can appeal against the ban.

"Our customers and colleagues have the right to work and shop in a pleasant and safe environment.

The lady in question was banned based on threats and abusive comments made to members of our staff."