A WORCESTER mum is fuming after her daughter was wrongly accused of shoplifting from a clothes store.

Tina Adams claimed 14-year-old Emma burst into tears when a member of staff from a Worcester store accused her of stealing.

Mrs Adams said her daughter's traumatic day started when she took off her own jacket to try on summer coats with family friend Nicola Long, 27.

None were suitable, and she hung them up again.

But, as she put on her own jacket, she was stopped by a member of staff who spotted an empty coat hanger on the rack.

The shop assistant, who has not been named, thought a garment had gone missing and phoned the police.

Officers searched Emma's bags and Nicola's daughter's pushchair, but found nothing.

But Mrs Adams claimed they still arrested her on suspicion of shoplifting and took her to the Castle Street station.

"Nicola had her one-year-old with her," said Mrs Adams, of Northleach Close, Blackpole.

"The police even checked the pram and left her crying her eyes out.

"They looked in their bags, in the pram and on their person, and found nothing.

"But they still insisted they should be searched down at the station and arrested them on suspicion of shoplifting.

"My daughter was beside herself when she was bundled into the police wagon."

After the pair were questioned, Mrs Adams claimed, the shop manager contacted the police and admitted a mistake had been made. Emma and Ms Long were then released.

When the Evening News contacted the store yesterday, staff said the manager in question was not in and declined to comment in his absence.

A spokeswoman for Worcester police said it was "procedure" to take suspected shoplifters to the station.

"The person will be under arrest until it can be ascertained whether a theft occurred or not," she said.

"This could involve interviewing staff or looking at CCTV footage, depending on the shop involved. The people involved were released without charge."