A fight broke out at a supermarket checkout in a row over the use of masks and social distancing.

Shocked shoppers looked on as a school pupil swung a punch at a customer at Sainsbury's in Sittingbourne.

One customer said: "There was a fight just before 8.30am at the checkout between a man and a teenager from one of the town's schools.

"Kids are a pain there in the morning congregating in large groups and with no masks. Sainsbury's have extra staff patrolling aisles to get them to hurry up and leave.

"But at the checkout a man complained to a member of staff about a group of boys who weren't social distancing and what a nightmare it must be for the staff.

"A boy then said: 'Have you got a problem with us?' The man said he wasn't talking to him but the girl at the checkout, at which point the kid apparently walked over and punched him and a fight broke out."

It is understood supermarket staff are reviewing CCTV footage taken in the store in the Avenue of Remembrance.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's said: “We can confirm an incident took place in our Sittingbourne store this morning.

"Safety is our highest priority and our stores continue to have a range of measures in place from Perspex safety screens between checkouts and additional cleaning to hand sanitiser and signs inside and throughout our stores which remind customers to keep a safe distance.”

She added: “We are asking all colleagues in our stores to wear face coverings unless they’re exempt according to government guidelines. We are also continuing to remind customers to wear face coverings if they are able to.

"We have greeters outside our supermarkets and busy convenience stores as well as posters and regular Tannoy announcements.”

Police said they were not called to the disturbance.

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