A SHOP owner trying to raise money for the Royal British Legion said she was ‘dumbfounded’ when her poppies were confiscated.

Keely Garbett, owner of Tasty’s Sandwich Shop in Knuzden, has been selling the poppies on her front counter for the last three years and always decorates her shop in honour of Remembrance Day.

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But the mum-of-three said she was ‘gobsmacked’ when a poppy seller came into her shop and told her was not allowed to sell them any longer.

Miss Garbett said the poppies were supplied to her shop every year by volunteer Ken Smith.

However, she was told that poppy sellers have a designated district to sell poppies from and Mr Smith should not have provided her with a box.

She said: “We have been dealing with Ken for years and had no issues. We have always sold them and had no problem whatsoever.

“A volunteer came in and said Ken was from a different district and he was operating on her patch.

“Her attitude was disgusting. She was shouting at me in front of my customers. It was embarrassing.

“I am gobsmacked and dumbfounded. I have always dealt with Ken.”

She said Ken’s box has now been taken away and she is no longer selling the poppies, but will continue to collect for the charity.

Neighbouring hairdressers Spirals Hair Design, who raised £400 along with Tasty’s last year, said they were also no longer selling them.

Miss Garbett said: “We were going to smash the amount this year and had already reached £300 but now we have no poppies to sell because Ken was told to take them away.

“I am here to raise a bit of money and help people and this is how I get treated. I feel disgusted.

“At the end of the day it all goes in the same pot. It does not matter who raises it as long as it gets to where it needs to go.”

Miss Garbett said a lot of her family are in the forces and she ‘really goes to town’ at this time of year decorating her shop with flags in honour of Remembrance Day.

“I am absolutely devastated. The shop has been decorated and it feels like it has been for nothing,” she added.

Mr Smith, 68, a grandfather who was in the army for 23 years, said: “I have never had any issues and nothing had been said for the last three years.

“I have a good relationship with the shop and the hairdressers and have built up a friendship with them.”

The father-of-five said: “I am hoping it will be resolved but I am not holding my breath. It is a pity that someone in the organisation is stopping funds getting to somewhere where it is needed.

“I want to get back up there and get the poppies back to where they should be.”

Hyndburn Cllr Paul Thompson, who lives in Knuzden, said: “It is all for the same cause and if they make it territorial I think that is terrible.”

A spokesman for the Royal British Legion said: “The Legion is supported by a network of volunteer poppy appeal organisers who each have a designated district to collect donations.

“In this instance, there has been a miscommunication between our volunteers which the Legion is looking to resolve.”