When data protection goes too far....

Gee, whatever happened to common sense???

Staff at Marks & Spencer insisted that Jacob Hunter-Lamb give consent for his mother to act on his behalf before they would resolve the problem.

The problems arose after Jacob was given the costume as a birthday present, bought online, only for him to realise it had come without Superman's yellow belt.

Debbie Lamb, 33, of Lincoln, said: "The whole thing was just so bizarre.

"They said because of data protection they had to speak to the recipient of the costume.

"He had to tell them the address and then give them permission to speak to me. We laughed about it, but I felt really undermined."

The playsuit had been ordered online by Jacob's aunt and addressed to him. When he noticed the costume did not have the yellow belt, he told his mother who rang the store to get a replacement.

Mrs Lamb said: "I called to see if I could send it back or if they could send the belt, but they asked if they could speak to who the package was for.

"I said: 'Yes, that's not a problem – but he's only seven.' They told me they would need to speak to someone even if they were as young as four."