A man from Walton has revealed a popular coffee chain prevented him buying a sandwich for a homeless person.
Adrian Pinsent, a TV cameraman, videoed staff who refused to sell him a sandwich and soft drink at the London Waterloo branch of Costa Coffee.
He asked if it was Costa policy but the barista said they would be prosecuted by station security and the police if it sold food for a homeless person.
@JuliaBradbury can you help with this #homeless issue? @CostaCoffee refuse to sell me food for a hungry homeless man @LondonWaterloo pic.twitter.com/TD6xHAUYIQ
— Adrian Pinsent (@Filmquotebloke) July 18, 2017
It has since emerged that neither Network Rail, which manages Waterloo station, or British Transport Police have such a policy in place.
Mr Pinsent, told the Press Association: “It was an utter disgrace.
“I asked (the homeless man) to pick what he wanted, a sarnie and a Pepsi, and when I tried to pay for it, they refused.
“This argument went on for some time before I filmed the video.
“I was amazed. As a cameraman and journalist myself, I know that the idea of Costa being prosecuted by either the police or station security as the barista says is utterly wrong.”
In the footage, posted on Twitter and Facebook, a staff member says: “I’m really sorry, Sir. I cannot.”
Mr Pinsent, 40, says “this is unbelievable”, before leaving a £10 note on the counter and taking the food anyway.
A spokeswoman for Costa said: “We do not have a policy that restricts customers purchasing food for anyone who is homeless.
“We believe the store was given misinformation, which has now been corrected.”
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We do not have a policy against passengers buying food in our stations and giving the food to anyone who is homeless.
“We will be asking our retailers to remind their staff of this, so we can avoid any incidents such as this in the future.”
British Transport Police said "of course" they would not prosecute anyone for buying food for a homeless person.
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