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Excuse me -Have you paid for those sir…?

Reporter Sam Lennon became a suspected shoplifter – but quickly proved his innocence.

He was collecting a trolley packed with food parcels from the Asda store in Chatham for Medway Today’s Help the Homeless Christmas Appeal.

But before he could load his car a member of staff stopped him to ask: “Where are you going with those, sir? Do you have a receipt?”

He found himself confronted by another worker, who had run to catch up with him as he trundled the trolley through the car park in blissful ignorance

But the staff apologised when he explained what he was doing and showed his Kent Messenger identity card.

Sam said: “When the man saw my card he said: ‘You frightened the life out of me.’ He obviously thought I was some heartless thief making off with a trolleyful of food for the poor.

“It was a bizarre experience but it shows the staff are on the ball with security.”

Sam and his Medway Today colleagues had been daily collecting foodparcels donated by the public from four drop-off points, also includingHempstead Valley Shopping Centre, and storing them at the Chatham office.

The grand total by December 22 was 6,103 items of food, more than 1½times last year’s collection.

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