A POOLE schoolgirl was refused a Glee stationery set at a shop in case she used the pencil sharpener as a weapon.

Emily Davies, 14, tried to buy the kit, based on the hit TV series, that contained a pen, pencil, ruler, rubber and a sharpener from a 99p store.

But she was stunned when she got to the check-out and was told by the cashier she couldn’t buy the item because she was under the age of 18.

The woman member of staff explained that the sharpener could be deemed as ‘lethal’ or ‘dangerous’ in the wrong hands.

Emily had to ask her 18-year-old brother, Mikey, to show his driving licence to the shop assistant to prove he was old enough to purchase the school set.

The traditional sharpener is covered in a round purple plastic encasing that has the words ‘Super Gleek’ on.

Their mother, Susan Davies, branded the exchange ‘ridiculous’.

Emily had gone to the 99p store in Boscombe to buy the stationery set.

She said: “I went to buy the set and the cashier said I need your ID because it’s got lethal objects in it.

“My brother was stood next to me and he said ‘I don’t get it’, and she said ‘it’s got a pencil sharpener, it could be dangerous.’ “I have got stuff like that before for school and it was fine, I can’t really imagine someone over 18 wanting something like a Glee stationery set.

“It was a bit unnecessary.”

Mum Susan, 40, added: “I didn’t really believe them when they told me what happened, it seemed so ridiculous.

“The idea is ludicrous. What is it going to be next, are they going to have to have their pencils sharpened at school?

“I still can’t work out what damage you can do with a pencil sharpener.”

A spokesman for the national chain of 99p stores said that they had no such age policy in place regarding pencil sharpeners, but defended the actions of the cashier in question.

He said: “Pencil sharpeners are not an age-restricted product and if we have refused a sale on this occasion we would rather that our staff are over-cautious than under-cautious.”