The beep of a barcode being scanned has led to a row at a “nostalgic experience” store on one of the Channel Islands.
The National Trust of Guernsey insists that its Victorian shop in St Peter Port must introduce barcodes, patented in 1951. Elizabeth Lihou, 70, the shop’s manager, has resigned in protest.
Ms Lihou told the BBC that the shop, which sells sweets by the ounce, was one of the few places where people could see how Guernsey once was and that the trust’s barcode ruling was “so wrong”. She added that visitors and volunteers felt the same.
Tony Spruce, president of the charity, which is independent of the National Trust England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said that auditors had suggested the change to