A gay couple were left in shock after being labelled "battys" by a JD Sports staff member in Eltham.

Gavin Matthews, 35, a legal assistant of Henry Cooper Way in Eltham visited JD Sports with his partner earlier this month.

After politely greeting staff members, Mr Matthews found himself confronted by a member of staff at the store.

Mr Matthews said: "As we walked in my partner said 'hi guys' and went to look at the trainers.

"They blocked my way for a while and the guy on the right side said 'they're battys innit'.

"I couldn't believe it, then he started laughing like he thought he was clever."

Mr Matthews immediately told his partner they were leaving and reported the incident to JD Sports' customer services department.

A man addressing himself as John from JD Customer Care responded to Mr Matthews' complaint on April 6 by saying: "I am sincerely sorry to hear what had happened when you were entering the Eltham branch.

"I have not come across this sort of behaviour previously.

"I will certainly get this matter looked into for you with the store in question."

Mr Matthews added: "What has made the whole thing worse is the generic response I've got, it's basically calling me a liar.

"It's obvious that JD Sports doesn't care about its own staff committing hate crimes and is more concerned about protecting them."

Galop, an LGBT anti-violence and abuse charity has criticised JD Sports over its handling of the incident.

Service manager Peter Kelly said: "Any homophobic abuse is unacceptable and a large company like JD Sports needs to investigate this incident properly.

"Homophobic abuse intended to cause anyone distress is a police matter, this incident just shows that homophobia is still prevalent in society today."