M&S refuses to speak to mum about 7-year-old son's faulty Superman suit because it would 'breach his data protection rights'

Unfortunately, however, his superpowers do not yet extend to dealing on the phone with a customer services operative from Marks & Spencer.

His mother Debbie phoned M&S to complain when Jacob's Superman outfit, a birthday present bought online by his aunt, arrived in the post minus the necessary yellow belt.

Cold call: Jacob jumps off the family sofa in his Superman suit as mum Debbie calls M&S to complain about data protection laws

Instead of a quick chat to resolve the problem she found herself involved in a farcical scene when the member of staff insisted he could speak only to Jacob because of 'data protection laws'.

'The whole thing was just so bizarre,' said Mrs Lamb, 33, a mother of three from Lincoln.

'They said because of data protection they had to speak to the recipient of the present. I said, "OK but he is only seven and out playing in the garden".'

Jacob managed to confirm his name to the customer services operative but became confused when asked for his address and postcode.

'He only knew the house number but not our street or town,' said Mrs Lamb, who also has a daughter Chloe, eight, and son Tom, two.

Belt up: Jacob Hunter-Lamb had to give permission for his mum to talk to a Marks & Spencer help desk about the missing yellow belt on his Superman costume

'He just went blank. I had to whisper the address to him. It's madness really. Jacob was very confused. He doesn't get many phone calls and nobody had ever asked him for his postcode before. It's never featured in his little world.'

After completing the check on his personal information, Jacob had to be coaxed into giving permission for his mother to take over the call.

Unsure if his ordeal was over, he then asked her if he could go back to playing with his friends before returning to the garden.

Mrs Lamb, who is married to Jacob's stepfather Danny Lamb, a 28-year-old civil engineer, said the member of staff was apologetic and embarrassed and revealed he had even had to speak to a four-year-old before.

Where's my belt? M&S has now sent Jacob a free Incredible Hulk outfit

Marks and Spencer yesterday said it would be apologising to Mrs Lamb for what it described as 'human error'.

A spokesman said: 'What happened here was, we admit, entirely our fault. It was a one-off human error and we have reminded staff of the correct way to handle this situation.

'Under the Data Protection Act it is necessary for us to talk to the person whose details we have.

'In this situation, we needed to speak to the aunt who ordered the suit or, if re-sending, then the person whose address that is.

' The operative obviously thought because it was for a little boy it should be checked with him but that's not what you do when it involves a minor.'

The Data Protection Act does not specify a minimum age when businesses need to check information with children.

But the Information Commissioner's Office suggests a ' commonsense' approach and has issued guidelines stating parents or guardians should act on behalf of anyone under 12.

Sadly for Jacob, M&S has been unable to find a replacement belt as it has no more stock of the Superman costume.

But it has sent him a free Incredible Hulk outfit instead.