A Pwllheli woman was told to leave a shop in the town after speaking Welsh to a member of staff, she has claimed.

Glenys Jones, 68, said a member of staff at the Original Factory Shop on the High Street told her she should leave if she was not going to speak English, after she said “excuse me” in Welsh.

Glenys said that when shopping in the store’s Pwllheli branch, her Welsh speaking had been responded to in a “fierce tone”, with the member of staff saying he only spoke English.

After replying that she had only said “excuse me”, the staff member allegedly replied “no you didn’t, you said it in Welsh”, before allegedly telling her to “get out” if she didn’t want to speak English.

Glenys said she was “disappointed and shocked that such a thing could have happened on our local high street”.

“I am 68 years old, a local and have worked in Pwllheli for 53 years and have never had anyone speak to me like this before.

“I want to take the case further with the company – but I feel it’s my duty to share the story,” she said.

The Original Factory Shop says it is looking into Mrs Jones’ claims.

A spokesperson for the store said: “The Original Factory Shop has 168 stores nationwide and we are proud to operate 16 of those shops across Wales. At our Pwllheli store, two thirds of our colleagues are fluent Welsh speakers.

“We are therefore surprised to hear of this complaint and are investigating. Everyone is welcome in our stores and we do our utmost to provide a helpful and friendly service for all our customers.”

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