A POPPY seller said he was shocked after a business said it was unable to display a poppy tin in its store.

John Rogerson, the official poppy collector for the Royal British Legion in Ferryhill, took to Facebook to say he was "greatly saddened" when he was contacted by the town's B&M store to say it would be unable to sell the poppies after he dropped off a tin on Friday morning.

However, the company have since clarified their reasoning, saying they are more than happy to sell the poppies during the day but the tins would have to be collected on an evening.

The company said its insurance did not cover the poppy tins if they were left overnight.

A B&M spokeswoman, said: “As a business we support the British Legion and have poppy sellers in many of ours stores across the country.

“We welcome fundraisers into the store to sell poppies but are unable to keep the collection tins with funds raised on the premises over night for insurance purposes.”

Mr Rogerson said he would be unable to collect the tin each night but had since gained three more outlets and hoped their collections would make up any shortfall from B&M.