STUNNED James Wright has been banned from all B&Q stores after being accused of “acting suspiciously” at an Oxford branch.

The 46-year-old said staff at Templars Shopping Park thought he was a shoplifter after seeing him put something in his pocket.

But the item was his mobile phone. He says he had taken the phone out of his pocket to examine a picture of his home DIY project to check against goods in the store. Now the senior highways technician who works for oxfordshire County Council wants to clear his name and be allowed to shop at the store so he can finish installing his new garden gates.

But B&Q said: “We stand by our decision.”

The Thame resident said after buying items last Wednesday, he was stopped by store detectives and asked to come back in the shop and empty his pockets.

Mr Wright said: “Two burly blokes blocked my path, stood in front of me and said come back into the shop.

“I said that was fine because I had a clear conscience and hadn’t done anything.

“One said he saw me put something in my pocket and he was adamant I was going to pinch something but said I had been spooked by his colleague.”

Yet Mr Wright is adamant that all he was doing was looking at images of gates on his phone to compare to potential purchases.

He said he was “slightly aggrieved” but became incredulous when he realised he was going to be banned and was handed it in writing.

The “banning notice letter” says: “The consequences of this is that you may not, unless notified in writing, visit or enter upon any B&Q stores and/or the above named store.

“If you do so you, will be regarded as a trespasser entering the premises without lawful authority and legal action may be taken against you.”

Mr Wright said: “I was guilty through and through according to him, he didn’t listen to what I had to say as I protested my innocence.

“I can see that if they are suspicious about the way someone is acting, they are within their rights to pull someone back in, but he was just acting as judge, jury and accuser.”

The father-of-two said he had never been arrested, did not have a criminal record or ever had been stopped by shop staff.

He said: “I take my civil responsibilities very seriously.”

He has contacted B&Q to appeal the ban but said he has yet to receive a response.

B&Q spokesman Parveen Johal said: “Our priority is to serve the needs of our customers, so we never take this kind of action lightly or without thorough investigation. We have looked into thiscase – and we stand by our decision.”

Store manager Neil Booth said: “If he wants to contact us at the store I would be more than happy to talk it through with the customer involved and resolve this.”