A TWO-YEAR-OLD girl was "labelled a thief" after helping herself to a pick 'n' mix sweet while in a store with her mum.

Aishah Khan, 23, said was left astounded when a member of staff at Woolworths walked over to her and her daughter Isra and, in front of other customers, said: "That's theft."

And she accused the store of causing unnecessary embrassment by not taking her to one side before asking for the 20p to cover the cost of the false teeth' shaped sweet.

A spokesperson for Woolworths confirmed that the family had been spoken to because Isra had eaten a sweet.

They said that it was company policy that, for health and safety reasons, all confectionery and food products must be paid for before being consumed.

Mrs Khan, from Pringle Street, Blackburn, went to Woolworths in The Mall with her three children to buy a colouring book.

She said: "We were walking passed the pick n' mix section and Isra picked one up.

"At first I thought that it was in a wrapper and she could put it back, but it was in her mouth, and I wasn't about to make her take it out.

"She's only two. She didn't know that what she was doing was wrong and that when you look at the sweets you can't just take one.

"A member of staff came over and said "That's theft" in front of all the other customers.

"I was humiliated.

"If he'd have come over politely and asked me to pay for it, fine, but it was like she'd stolen something really valuable.

"I've got three children aged three and under and you can't have your eyes on each of them every second.

"It must have happened lots of times before with the sweets all being open like that."

Mrs Khan, who is doing a social science degree at Blackburn College, said that she regularly shops in Woolworths, buying household items and children's presents.

She said: "When I take the children out, it's a treat for me and I don't expect this.

"I won't be going back until I get an apology."

Mrs Khan was asked to pay 20p for the false teeth-shaped sweet and complied.

A spokesperson for Woolworths said: "Pic n' mix is sold in all Woolworths stores for 69p per 100grams.

"For health and safety reasons all confectionery and food products must be paid for before being consumed.

"The prevention of theft or loss of stock is a priority.

"Whilst we understand the temptations our pic n' mix may hold with young children the responsibility lies with the adult accompanying them to ensure they are appropriately supervised."

Chris Allen, head of trading standards at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "Ultimately, it is the parent's responsibility to keep an eye on their child.

"But we all know that young children may not yet understand what they are doing is wrong, and we would hope anything like this could be dealt with reasonably.

"If someone feels that they have been badly treated, we would always encourage them to complain to the company."