Pharmacy chain Boots has had to apologise for its ‘over cautious’ staff after a digital photographer was told they would not develop her photographs as they were.

When Joanna Ornowska’s model and friend Malgorzata Kulinsha took a memory stick to Boots, the staff refused to process them as they claimed they were by a professional and that she was breaking copyright rules by trying to print someone else’s work.

The staff stuck to their guns despite Miss Kulinsha telling them that her friend had taken the pictures of her. She returned the next day with her friend’s student ID and a letter signed by Ornowska, explaining that she was taking a photography course at Coventry University.

The staff still refused to print the pictures, even after the two women went along together.

Ornowska said, “They were demanding a letter on headed paper to prove I was the photographer, but I explained to them that I was a student and did not have my own photography business.”

The pictures were taken of the eight-months pregnant Kulinsha to show her family back in Poland. She wanted to process them quickly and cheaply so she could taken them back to Poland on a visit, but she had to return empty handed.

Boots stated, “we have refreshed all procedures in this particular store and the staff have been fully briefed regarding appropriate customer care.”

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