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Both W H Smith and Tesco have been criticised for promoting a book on Josef Fritzl in their Father's Day selections. WHS has apologised, while Tesco has now said it was a "mistake".
The Evening Standard reports that high street chain WHS apologised after shoppers at the Lewisham branch were shocked to see The Crimes of Josef Fritzl (Harper Element) in a Top 50 Books for Dad display. A spokeswoman for WH Smith apologised saying it was "a mistake by one store". She added: "It is not national policy. We will rectify this immediately."
Tesco originally defended its decision to stock it in the promotion, telling the Telegraph it would smack of censorship to remove certain books because some people found them offensive. But the retailer has now issued a new statement, saying: "It was never our intention to cause offence to any of our customers. It was placed there by mistake and has been removed."
This story has been updated to reflect Tesco's position, 19th June.