A teacher was shocked when staff at a store asked for identification from a young woman buying condoms.

Isobel Allen, from Dartford, was at the Priory Shopping Centre store when the incident happened in Poundland.

The 38-year-old said: "A young lady in front of me attempted to buy a packet of condoms and was asked for ID by the assistant and was told without it she could not sell them to her.

"I thought that in this day of STDs and unwanted pregnancies this was quite an irresponsible policy to have, as it may cause embarrassment to people, forcing them to potentially shoplift these items in order to stay safe or just not use protection at all."

Poundland sells a pack of three Durex ribbed condoms and, like eveything else, costs £1.

Durex was also the official condom of the London Olympic Games and 150,000 free condoms were supplied for the 10,800 athletes who took part.

A Poundland spokesman said: "There is no legal requirement for retailers to ask for proof of age for the sale of condoms and therefore we will be reiterating our age verification policies to staff.

"Poundland apologises for any embarrassment which may have been caused to the customer who recently tried to purchase condoms in the Dartford store."

Ruth Herron, head of sexual health services for Kent Community Health NHS Trust, said: "Condoms are not age-restricted but they can be expensive.

"Any young person aged 19 or under in Kent can register for a C Card, which allows them to pick up free condoms from more than 650 places in Kent – mainly pharmacies but also many youth clubs, all of our community clinics and some leisure centres.

"More details can be found on our Facebook page ‘Kent C Card’. There is also a phone app for iPhone, Blackberry and Android which can be found by searching for Kent C Card in the relevant app store."