Alamy
A dad has told of his outrage after his 13-year-old daughter was propositioned by a waiter.
Matthew Lengthorn, 33, claims Paige was 'chatted up' by a waiter when she visited the Aroma restaurant in Basildon, Essex. He further alleges the 23-year-old man gave Paige his email address.
The furious dad told his local newspaper that it was obvious that Paige was just a young girl.
"Paige was still wearing her school uniform, and even though she may look a bit older, it was clear she was a schoolgirl," he said.
"What struck me was there were a lot of older women in the restaurant, but he seemed to single her out.
"He must have known she was here with her parents, but he seemed to wait until she was on her own getting some food at the buffet before giving her his email and telling her to contact him."
Paige is said to have come back to the table 'almost white' and 'quite shaken'. Mr Lengthorn says he thought 'that man is a pervert' and decided to take it up with the restaurant manager, who he says 'made light of it'.
Mr Lengthorn called the police who spoke to the waiter about the incident.
The manager of the restaurant, Raymond Cheng, said he has now warned his staff about getting too friendly with customers but insists the situation with Paige was a misunderstanding and that it was Paige who had asked the waiter for his personal details.
"This was a misunderstanding and I gave all staff a strong warning after it happened. I told them never to swap any personal details with customers, no matter what age they are," he said, "The waiter gave the girl a fake email address but that was misguided and he has been told he shouldn't have done it.
"He said the girl kept asking for his email address so that is why he gave her a fake one. He was in the wrong and knows it shouldn't have happened."
Essex Police confirmed that they were called to the restaurant and that they had spoken to the waiter.
"Police were called to the restaurant and spoke to this man who was very upset that the waiter had given his teenage girl his phone number," the police spokesperson said.
"It was established that she asked for his Facebook details while at the chocolate fountain and he brought it to her at the table in front of her father, and that he thought the girl was 17.
"He was given a talking to by the officer, but he closed the incident and there was no further action."