Mother and daughter tricked into licking Poundworld staff members' feet in prank by anonymous caller

A mother and daughter were tricked into licking the feet of members of staff at a Poundland store in a prank by an anonymous caller.

A man claiming to be from a charity in Ireland called and told staff to close the store for a “training exercise” and that two customers could win £3,000 if they participated.

Naomi Desmond, 24, and her mother Pamela, 55, were the only shoppers left in the store in Devon and agreed to participate.

They were made to endure a series of humiliating tasks, which included having their faces drawn on, having string tied around their ears, and water poured on them.

Staff were also ordered to ride the two customers down the aisles in a human horse race.

Pamela, who is disabled, was apparently made to lick the feet of a staff member and the two women were referred to as “ugly” and “beast” throughout the two-hour ordeal.

In return they had to refer to the manager of the store as “beautiful lady” and were told they would receive £50 each time they complied.

“At first it was funny – like a game show. It all happened on the shop floor. They were asked to get on to our backs and they rode us up and down the aisle like a horse race,” she told the Metro.

“But afterwards we felt embarrassed. We genuinely thought it was head office.”

The pair claimed they wanted to sue Poundworld after the store offered them a £200 voucher and an apology, the site reported.

A Poundworld spokesperson said: “We apologise unreservedly to our customers for their experience at our Barnstaple store, which our team also fell victim of.

“The incident has been referred to the police and we are assisting them with their enquiries.

“We have conducted our own investigation and re-issued guidance to our stores around the verification of telephone calls to help ensure something such as this does not happen again in the future.

"Our CEO has spoken with the customers and made a personal apology on behalf of the company.”