Ikea employs security guards to stop gypsies entering car parks We argued with him there for about a minute before he said 'OK go on', it was like he was convinced we weren't gipsy so we could go on. I know this kind a camper van is slightly unusual, but it is not exclusively used by the travelling community. After parking the van, he went to remonstrate with the guard who said they were not the only people he had stopped and questioned. The guard, who was caught on tape, told him: "A lot of them are coming in similar cars. If you had said yes [to being a gipsy] I wouldn't have let you into the premises. In the recording of the conversation, the attendant can be heard to say: "We are stopping them because they are coming in and taking things off our loyal customers, that is why I'm here in the car park." Mr Massey added: "We were honestly gob smacked. Even if they have had problems with travellers using their electricity supply or parking there at night it doesn't justify the racial profiling of customers at the front door. It is not acceptable, I'm disgusted. The Gypsy Council said Ikea "should be ashamed of itself." A spokesman added: "God help anyone who they think looks like a Gypsy - lots of Gypsies don't walk around with big earrings." But Garry Deakin, the Ikea store manager at Croydon, defended the practice. He said: "Over recent months the travelling community in the Croydon area have been attempting to access the customer car park to set up their mobile homes. (It) not only has an impact on our customers' shopping experience, but also poses a health and safety risk due to the build up of human and animal waste. After discussions with both the local traveller liaison officer and Croydon Council, Ikea Croydon implemented preventative procedures to secure the car park, including a security officer to patrol the entry to the car park to prevent the mobile homes entering the car park.