Costa Coffee has landed itself in hot water after a customer claimed one of its Kent shops refused to accept her Scottish bank note.

The complaint came after the woman's cash was reportedly turned down by a barista at the coffee chain's store in Margate this week.

It sparked a furious response on social media from fellow Scots claiming the decision was 'discriminatory'.

Costa was forced into an apology and backtracked after initially saying store managers could refuse Scottish notes if they wished to.

Twitter user @ScotsLindaT wrote: "My local store in Margate doesn’t accept Scottish money; the manager says it’s because they bank with the Post Office."

In response, a member of Costa's customer service team told her 'teams are allowed to turn down Scottish notes' and it was up to 'the manager's discretion' - as had been the case at the Margate High Street cafe.

But the post was later deleted as the company said it had been posted in error after it led to further outrage from angry Scots.

A Costa staff member posting on the company's official Twitter account replied saying: "This is incorrect from my colleague. There's no policy in place that stops stores from accepting Scottish notes.

"They should be taking them, it must be an issue at store level. We're picking this up with all of our ops teams."

Martin Lewis, the money and consumer expert, said he had been asked several times about whether Scottish notes are legal tender in England.

He said: "The answer though is no. In fact they're not legal tender in Scotland either (in Scotland only Royal Mint coins are legal tender)

"Then again no debit or credit cards are legal tender either.

"Legal tender is a very narrow phrase. It just means you cannot refuse to accept them as settlement of court ordered debt - and is mostly irrelevant.

"Yet Scottish and Northern Irish notes are legal currency throughout the UK, and are just as valid and acceptable in everyday transactions as Bank of England notes.

"While any store can refuse any form of custom or payment even if it is legal tender (as long as it isn't due to discrimination), I'd urge all UK stores to ensure they accept all UK notes."

A statement from Costa's official Twitter feed in reply said the company 'definitely do accept them' but there had been 'a couple of instances where stores haven't seen them before'.

Some have used the row to fuel the fire in a bid to support calls for Scottish independence.

The furore even featured on the front page of pro-independence newspaper The National on Wednesday.

KentOnline has contacted Costa for an official statement.

In November, a father described having a Scottish note turned down at his local Post Office as a hate crime.