A north London council has apologised after a woman was refused the loan of a pair of scissors in a library because she “might stab a member of staff”.
Lorna Watts, 26, a self-employed dressmaker, was turned down at Holborn Library in central London.
She said: “It’s ridiculous - public libraries are supposed to be supportive of small businesses.”
A spokeswoman for Camden Council, which runs the library, has apologised and said it would investigate the incident.
Ms Watts, from Islington, north London, said: “I asked why I couldn’t borrow a pair of scissors and she said, ‘they are sharp, you might stab me’.
“I then asked to borrow a guillotine to cut up my leaflets but she refused again - because she said I could hit her over the head with it!”
She added: “It’s absurd - there are plenty of heavy books I could have hit her with if I wanted to.
“I hardly look very threatening - it’s really sad she could not make a commonsense judgement.”
The businesswoman then visited another three libraries in north London but her request was rejected in each of them.
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