A GRANDMOTHER was grounded when airline bosses banned her from flying after they declined to accept seven items of identification.

Louie Clarke's dream trip to see her grandson had to be abandoned because she did not have the required documents.

The 68-year-old was even more angry after she found out she could have boarded the flight if she had a gun licence and produced it.

She encountered trouble at the check-in desk at Newcastle Airport for a domestic easyJet flight.

She was trying to fly to Stansted for a visit to see her grandson in Suffolk.

Mrs Clarke, of Consett, County Durham, said: "They refused to take my ID at check-in, so I was referred to a supervisor at the information desk.

"I had taken all the identification cards I had and they would not accept any of them.

"While I understand their concerns about security, it was a domestic flight anyway and I had good enough proof of who I was. I could not believe it. Do I look like a terrorist?

"It was made even worse when I spotted a sign saying they would accept a gun licence. I said, 'A firearms certificate? I've got my birth certificate'".

She also had her photo bus pass, medical card and marriage certificate.

She even had her identity card that she was issued before the war, when she was born in 1936, her bank card and a letter containing her name and address. None was accepted.

EasyJet's website states which identification is acceptable, but Mrs Clarke thought her seven items would suffice.

Mrs Clarke, a grandmother of nine, said: "They would not entertain me at all. I was really looking forward to having a weekend with my grandson.

"I was so upset, not to mention angry. It is one of my first trips away since my husband died three years ago and it was ruined."

EasyJet officials have agreed to transfer her flight to a future date.

A spokeswoman said: "When people book on the website, people have to agree to the terms and conditions.

"We introduced a new policy of requiring photo ID for domestic flights following September 11.

"It was done to increase security and there are certain photo IDs that are acceptable.

"They have to be Government-issued ones. That is why we accept firearms cards.

"Things such as student union cards, for example, are easily forged.

"We do not usually make an exception as it just causes confusion."