Tesco apologises after worker tells gay couple: 'You people are disgusting'

Supermarket giant Tesco has apologised to a gay couple who claim they copped a barrage of homophobic abuse from one of its employees.

Steve Luetchford says he was shopping at Tesco's Brixton store on Friday, when his boyfriend, Mattia Pievani, gave him a "peck on the cheek".


ITV Report 8 August 2015 at 4:43pm

Tesco apologises after worker tells gay couple: 'You people are disgusting'

He says it was at that point that a female employee "went ballistic" at them, saying they "should not be doing that in front of children".

"Basically (she) told us we should be disgusted with ourselves, we should not do anything like that," Mr Luetchford told ITV News.

But Mr Luetchford insists there was "nothing grotesque" about their behaviour.

"My boyfriend held my hand, gave me a kiss, and said he loved me. (A) small peck on the cheek."

He says he was so shocked by the abuse that he made a formal complaint to the supermarket chain, which has since contacted him to apologise.

"Everyone is welcome at Tesco so we take any allegations of discrimination extremely seriously.”

– Tesco spokeswoman

Mr Luetchford says he wants to ensure something is done to stop it happening again.

"I'm not expecting to ruin anyone's lives or anything like that," he said.

"But at the same time, I don't want someone to get a slap on the wrist and think it's OK to do that to another person."