Aldi shoppers have been left in tears after being wrongly accused of shoplifting by over-zealous staff.

The discount supermarket has apologised for "incorrectly carrying out bag searches" following a rise in shoplifting.

Shoppers at the Sheerness branch said staff at the shop have accused them of stealing products without any evidence to back up their claims.

Incidents have left some people in tears with others having their shopping bags emptied in front of fellow customers.

And now the budget chain has admitted they haven't always got it right.

In a statement a spokesman said: "With customers’ permission, we are conducting more bag searches at our Sheerness store due to a recent increase in shoplifting.

"It appears that this process was carried out incorrectly on a small number of occasions. We apologise to any customers whose experience did not match our normal high standards.”

Aldi did not respond when asked how much money they were losing by people stealing from the store.

The admission comes after a string of incidents reported at the store since November last year.

One woman entered the store to grab some extra groceries on January 4 and had her bag emptied on the conveyor belt.

She said: "I had my shopping from Iceland hanging on my trolley in a bag.

"When I got to the till a female member of staff demanded I emptied it. When I didn't and tried to explain I'd brought the food elsewhere, the staff member emptied my goods onto the conveyor belt instead, accusing me of trying to steal crackers in front of the whole store.

"I offered to show the woman my Iceland receipt but I was just spoken down to.

"It was only when another staff member pointed out that Aldi didn't sell that item of food that the accusations stopped.

"I received no apology and was refused to be served by the female member of staff in question. I was very embarrassed and upset afterwards."

Another woman, who attended Aldi with her own canvas bags in order to pack her shopping in an eco-friendly way, was embarrassed at the tills by a member of staff who also accused her of stealing.

She said: "I put my shopping on the till and before I was served the member of staff asked if she could see in my bag on my other shoulder.

"I'd packed my bags inside another canvas shoulder bag and I’d taken one out to start packing.

"I packed my shopping and then while I was paying I asked why she wanted to check my bag, the cashier said that they were asking to see in everyone’s bags as they’d had a lot of stock taken by shoplifters.

"The member of staff said it wasn’t personal but the way the woman made me feel and look like I'd stolen something was really embarrassing."

One man made a formal complaint to the store after his wife was accused of stealing nappies.

He said: "She was accused of stealing the baby products and was embarrassed by a female employee in front of everyone.

"The funny thing is that our kids don’t even wear nappies so there was no need for her to even have them, let alone try and steal them."

Another woman was collared outside the store after a member of staff chased them outside the shop.

Get Licensed, a company that offers security training courses across the UK, says a store's security guard or staff can only search a person and their bag if a person consents to it.

If consent isn't given then they cannot search someone, however, they can simply detain them until a police officer arrives to conduct a legal and forced search if a person still refuses.

On Monday, January 2, another shopper flagged this law.

He said: "I shopped at Aldi's in Sheerness and was quite taken aback when challenged at the tills to show the contents of my bag prior to paying, the bag was empty.

"I refused and only complied as I was delaying other shoppers.

"The lady said it was their policy and she was only doing as instructed.

"My understanding is that a person cannot have their bags searched unless there is beyond a reasonable doubt they have concealed an item and attempted to leave the store without paying.

"This policy appears to adopt the notion that everyone is attempting to steal and they must prove they are not, this must contravene retail legislation, as law-abiding genuine shoppers are having to show contents of their own bags, this is a gross invasion of privacy by Aldi."