A MOTHER left Marks & Spencer in floods of tears after a cashier branded her tattoos “disgusting”.

Natasha Henson said she was upset and insulted by the way the cashier spoke to her at the Castlepoint store.

The 35-year-old said a customer “tutted” at her and made comments about the tattoos on her neck and arms.

When the mother-of-two spoke to the cashier about the incident, the Marks & Spencer employee told her she was not surprised and asked why she had mutilated her body. “It was absolutely horrible,” Mrs Henson told the Daily Mail Online. “It's my choice to have tattoos and I do not expect people to judge me for it.”

Mrs Henson said her husband, who has run John Henson Tattooists in Bournemouth for more than 30 years, has done most of the art work.

She said: “I then mentioned I had a tattoo shop and she [the cashier] said, ‘It doesn't matter if you have a tattoo shop, you don’t see painters and decorators go out and cover themselves in paint’.”

The employee, who has since resigned from the company, then allegedly said ‘My husband would never hurt me like that’ and asked ‘Why would you want to have the pain of them are you weird or something?’ Mrs Henson said: “I feel this is a disgusting way to treat another human being and even worse with it being from someone who is supposed to be using good customer service skills.

“My son is autistic which is extremely hard work and it is hard enough job as it is without hearing this after a stressful day with him.”

Mrs Henson said she was initially offered a cream tea as an apology by Marks & Spencer but declined the offer. Instead the store sent a summer basket to Springwood campus, a specialist unit at Linwood School, which is where Mrs Henson’s 10-year-old autistic son attends.

Mrs Henson said: "Marks & Spencer did deal with this in a very professional manner and it was resolved a couple of days after the incident. 

"I didn't want to th cashier to be fired but I thought she might need some training."

A spokeswoman from Marks & Spencer said: “Customer service is extremely important to us. If our high standards are not met, we will do everything we can to resolve it.”