A woman has been caught on camera coughing over a shop counter after being asked to wear a mask inside the premises.

CCTV from Bridgeway Stores in Bridge, near Canterbury, shows the customer entering the building holding an item of clothing over her mouth and nose.

The awful incident was caught on CCTV

When a shop worker explains that the business’s policy dictates she cannot serve anyone not wearing a face covering, the woman claims “it is against the law” before threatening to shut the business down.

She then strolls towards the exit, before turning towards the staff member and repeatedly hacking over one of the shop’s displays.

Footage then shows an unmasked man purporting to be the woman's husband storm into the shop, shouting: “You’re a public convenience, you do what we need!”

He breaks into an unintelligible rant, before flinging a number of items to the floor and marching out of the Western Avenue site.

Bridgeway owner Ranjit Dhaliwal told KentOnline: “It’s disgusting.

“There was another incident last week where a member of staff refused to sell to the wife of a guy who stood outside abusing me and made racist comments.

“We’re still getting about three or four incidents a day. We don’t know who these people are.”

Mr Dhaliwal says police were called following the incident at about 6.35pm on Saturday, August 21.

Government guidance introduced on July 19 states there is no longer a legal requirement to wear masks in some indoor settings such as shops and pubs.

While it says residents should use their judgement in deciding whether to don a mask, the advice adds that businesses can ask their employees and customers to cover their faces.

“I’m just trying to make sure my shop is safe,” Mr Dhaliwal continued.

“There have been loads of incidents. It’s mad.”

Despite the abuse, Mr Dhaliwal insists he will not consider altering the rules inside his shop, which continues to refuse serving customers not wearing masks.

This comes after employees from the village shop revealed earlier this month that racial slurs had been hurled at them by visitors refusing to cover their faces.

And in January, KentOnline reported that Mr Dhaliwal was told by yobs that they would burn the shop down and even kill him following disputes over social-distancing and mask-wearing.

On the latest incident, a police spokesman said officers were called following reports that a shop worker had been verbally abused by two customers and a chalkboard had been damaged.

He added: "Officers attended and have since spoken to all parties involved. The incident was resolved by way of a community resolution whereby the customers apologised to the shop worker and covered the cost of the damage."

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