The Aldi branch where pupils were told they were not welcome between 3pm and 6pm

WEARING a school uniform? Well, you’re not allowed into this shop to buy your lunch.

This is the reality facing schoolchildren in Archway as Holloway Road’s Aldi has banned anyone wearing a school uniform from entering the supermarket from 3-6pm every day.

The shop will allow one child in a school uniform in at a time, or a uniformed child with an adult.

The Holloway Road shop says that theft is a huge problem, and the students are the perpetrators.

“My nine-year-old went to Aldi after school – it was her birthday the next day, so she went to buy cupcakes. When she arrived at the store, the security guard turned her and the girl she was with away,” said Maria Santos, who lives in Highgate.

She added: “My daughter said to them, ‘I don’t understand why you won’t let me in. I’ve never stolen anything, and I just want to buy cupcakes for my birthday.’

“She walked further down to Tesco where there was no problem. She was thinking, ‘I’m a thief there, but Tesco is fine?’ It’s confusing for the children.”

Ms Santos confronted the shop about their new policy: “I managed to speak with the deputy store manager later, and I was told that the problem was the school uniform. I said: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand how a school uniform makes a child become a thief?’ I was told that they had anti-social behaviour from students in the past, so  they have a blanket ban on them.”

After this conversa­tion, Ms Santos says she received a call from the shop’s manager. “She explained that the majority of thefts in the store aren’t committed by students; she said they were committed by males. I asked if she was going to ban men from the store and she said no.”

Ms Santos wants to see the shop treat everyone as equals. “I feel outraged that people can treat students and children like they’re second-class citizens,” she said. “They’re the most vulnerable group – you can tower over a child and tell them ‘you’re not allowed’.”

Ms Santos, who has already written to every primary school in the borough, is calling on the schools of Islington to rally against this shop’s policy.

“I need the schools that are in Islington to fight back against this. It’s an insult to the schools, it’s saying, ‘if you’re representing your school I’m going to ban you.’

“I want the schools in the area to tell Aldi that this is not right. If you have an issue with our students, you need to tell us and we can work together to improve our community.”

Aldi declined our invitation to comment.