A man has been charged for allegedly contaminating goods at a supermarket in west Dorset.

At around 2pm on Friday, April 3, a man entered Lidl on St Andrews Road, Bridport, wearing a face mask and gloves. He allegedly lowered the face mask and licked his fingers, before purposefully rubbing them onto a product in the store.

Following enquiries, a 20-year-old local man was arrested and subsequently charged with an offence of contaminating or interfering with goods with intent under section 38 of the Public Order Act 1986. He is next due to appear at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 6.

The man did not have a confirmed case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) and was not displaying symptoms.