WOMEN in bikinis are welcome to shop at Tesco Express in Swin-don, its manager has declared, but bare-chested men are not.

The recent heat has seen people shed clothes with gusto and opt for more appropriate beachwear given the climate even to do their weekly shop.

The town has been awash with scantily clad men and women parading in little more than thin vests and bikini tops.

And it is not uncommon to see men walking around bare-chested.

But after shopper Elizabeth Webster was castigated for wearing too little in a Tesco store in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, last week Mike Daniel, manager of the store's Ocotal Way branch, said bikini-clad women were most welcome in his store.

Mr Daniel, 43, said: "Obviously we would never intentionally cause customers embarrassment or upset them, but hygiene is an issue and we insist that people who come into the shop have to wear something appropriate.

"We insist that men wear a T-shirt or something instead of coming in with a bare chest, but women who come into the store wearing bikinis are allowed.

"If someone enters the store dressed inappropriately then we politely ask them to put a T-shirt on," Mr Daniel said.

Bank manager's wife and mother-of-three Mrs Webster, 43, was told to cover up when she went shopping last week in a pair of shorts and bikini top.

She said the customer services assistant who asked her to cover up had caused her embarrassment.

People who favour the approach taken by the Lincolnshire store said the heatwave provoked a nationwide strip, but without any of the tease.