A Wellington shop assistant was shocked to be slapped by an irate woman who insisted the store where she worked should have been shut on Christmas Day.
Starmart worker Grace Chen was tidying shelves at the central city shop when a woman burst into the store about noonon December 25, The Dominion Post reported.
The well-dressed woman walked up to her complaining it was illegal for the store to be open on the public holiday.
Shops that provide essential services including petrol stations, dairies and pharmacies were allowed to open on Christmas Day.
After being sworn at, Mrs Chen explained to the woman that Starmart had a licence to open - in response she received a solid whack across the side of the head.
"I was terrified and my brain just went blank," she said.
"No one has ever hit me like that before. It almost knocked my glasses off and left my head hurting. I just kept bursting into tears for the rest of the day."
On her way out, the woman tried to close the store's glass doors, yelling: "Keep it closed."
Sergeant Nigel Bullock said police wanted to speak to the woman involved in the incident.
