A MUM has told how she was left crying when she held hostage at an Esso garage by staff member.
Odette Browning was locked inside the petrol station in Gillingham, Kent, because her phone payment would not go through.
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The 40-year-old had not taken her purse with her to nip to the shop – and when she tried to pay with her phone it was repeatedly declined.
The accountant told the worker at the garage that she could leave her ID with him and drive home the ten minutes to her home to grab her purse.
She was told she must leave her car and walk – but Odette didn’t feel comfortable making the 40-minute journey by foot alone in the dark.
The worker allegedly told her his boss would not allow him to authorise her to leave without complying.
She told KentOnline: “After he said that I told him that I was going to have to leave to sort out the payment but then he said ‘no, you’re not’ and locked the doors at 6.30pm.
“As more time went on, the more I started to feel agitated and intimidated. My legs started shaking and I started crying. So I called the police.”
An hour later cops arrived at the same time as her husband Ryan who paid the £50 needed.
She added: “After we’d left, the police stayed there because they said they were going to arrest him.
“I wasn’t rude and I wasn’t causing him any aggro whatsoever so I just don’t understand why he did this.”
Odette is now bringing a private case for false imprisonment against garage if police do not charge the man.
She added: “It was not just five minutes of scare-mongering. He left me in a vulnerable situation for an hour.”
“I still can’t believe it, I’m still trying to piece together what was he thinking.”
A police spokesman said: “We were called to a dispute between a customer and an employee at a petrol station
“Officers attended and the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.”
A manager of the garage told KentOnline: “It is all sorted. It wasn’t a big police incident and there is no comment at all.”
The Sun has approached Esso for comment.
