Asda Censors Birthday Cake

When Gail Jordan found an old photograph of her son as a bouncing baby, she thought it would make the perfect adornment for the top of his 21st birthday cake.

But staff at Asda, whom she asked to transfer the print, refused to help unless Miss Jordan agree to censor the picture, because it showed the child's bare bottom.

Care worker Jordan recounted: "They said it could be anyone's child so it could be deemed pornographic. But I was asking to have it printed on a 21st birthday cake, so surely it was pretty obvious that it was my son. It's ridiculous - I understand they have rules, but there ought to be a place for common sense as well."

Jordan gamely concluded: "In the end they would only do it with a star over his bottom, which to be honest made the whole thing even more hilarious."

An Asda spokesman offered: "We have a policy, as do many other retailers, of no nudity, whatever the age of the subject. In this case we offered a number of alternatives including enlarging and cropping the photo, increasing the border size or applying a strategically placed star to save his blushes."