A 61-year-old woman told to remove her hooded top in a pub says she doesn’t hold a grudge – but didn’t take it off either.

Corinne Chapman was eating her lunch in the newly-opened Vineyard in Sittingbourne High Street, wearing a pink Marks & Spencer top with a hood.

She said the manager came over to her and asked her to remove it because the dress code in the pub stated “no hoodies”.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said. “There I was eating my jacket potato with my friends, a 61-year-old woman, so I just ignored it. I don’t think I look much like a delinquent.”

Despite reports in national papers that she was ordered to leave, Mrs Chapman has said this was not the case. She neither left nor took the top off.

Mrs Chapman, from Glovers Crescent, Sittingbourne, said the manager came over a few minutes later and said I could keep it on because it wasn’t a “sports hoodie”.

“I honestly thought he was joking. I have never worn it over my head, I don’t look like I’m going to cause trouble.”

But she said: “You can’t judge a person by what they are wearing. There are kids who wear it over their heads and do look menacing but just because they are wearing a hoodie doesn’t mean to say they are going to cause trouble.

“There were people in there wearing jeans and T-shirts, even shorts and T-shirts, so I think I looked quite smart in comparison. You have to use a bit of common sense.”

Mrs Chapman, who is captain of the Kent County Ladies Golf Association, said she would go in there again. “I don’t hold a grudge,” she said. But after all this they probably won’t let me in again.”

A spokesman for the Vineyard said they had relaxed the rule and will only turn away people in sports-branded hoodies.