Peggy Harden, 84, was wearing her hood up to shield herself from the wind and pouring rain.  But within minutes of stepping into the Grand Arcade retail centre in Cambridge she was approached by a security guard and asked to show her face.

The guard said the centre had a "no-hood" policy for security reasons and elderly Peggy's fur lined hood broke the rules.  Peggy, from Sawston, Cambridgshire, said she felt confused and intimidated by the whole episode.  The great-grandmother-of-two was heading towards John Lewis with her husband Desmond, 84, who also uses a walking stick, when they were accosted by the guard.

Desmond, a former Debenham's department manager, said: "There were lots of youngsters in there who were actually wearing hoodies, but he came up to us.  It's ridiculous. It didn't hit me straight away what was happening or I would have said a few words to him.  Older people with walking sticks are not going start hitting people. We felt a bit victimised really, like we were being treated like criminals."

A spokeswoman for the shopping centre apologised for upsetting Peggy and her husband but insisted the ban was down to "health and safety".

Ah yes... Health And Safety... the last refuge of the scoundrel!

To be honest Peggy didn't do herself any favours.

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