Retail giant New Look is reviewing its prices after an Ashford shopper claimed New Look is imposing a 'fat tax' on its clothes.

Marie Wassell, a retail supervisor from Ashford, noticed that a pair of trousers from the store's Curves collection were being sold for 15% more than the ones in the main collection and of a smaller size.

The green striped trousers cost £22.99 in the Curves range - which is described as 'plus size clothes' - whereas they were priced at just £19.99 in the standard range.

Ms Wassell, who has worked in retail for 26 years and is a size 18, told The Sun: “It’s like I’m being discriminated against for being plus size when I’m only slightly bigger than average.

“The average size for a British woman is now a size 16. Plus size purchases are on the increase. If you look at the statistics, there’s more money being spent on plus size clothing now then there was even three years ago.

“Why should we be penalised for being slightly bigger?"

She also found a size 18 striped T-shirt with the slogan 'tres jolie' which she paid £12.99 was being sold for just £9.99 in the standard range.

She continued: “It’s discriminating against those customers who are larger.

“Even the trousers in their tall range, which would also require more fabric, are the same price as the normal ones. I’m annoyed.

“Retail at the moment is a really hard business to be in and they’re not doing themselves any favours. New Look are already closing stores down.”

Maria contacted New Look and claimed she was told ‘some products appear similar but may be slightly different’. She has now vowed to boycott the retailer.

A New Look spokesperson said: “To ensure pricing differences like these don’t happen in future, we are in the process of reviewing the pricing structure of our plus size collection in a way which works best for our customers and our business.

“We are proud of the ranges we offer to our plus size customers and value all customers, no matter what their body shape or size.”