'Barefoot Dave' has been avoiding shoe-wearing for the last eights years
A man from Castle Donington known as 'barefoot Dave' has been banned from shopping in his local Tesco store.
Dave Richards feels the shop have taken a "shoddy" attitude towards his choice to go without footwear, claiming it was a health and safety risk.
The writer and filmmaker first ditched the shoes eight years ago and has not looked back since.
After breaking his leg Dave was told by his physiotherapist that to prevent a limp he should go barefoot.
"I was 19 and I thought, 'What a load of rubbish'.
"So I got on with my life and then when I was 40-ish I began to walk like Inspector Morse and I thought, 'Now is the time to give it a go'.
"So I took my shoes off, cured my limp, and just didn't put my shoes back on."
Life without sole
His life is now lived completely barefoot - whether he is cooking, walking the dog or going out for dinner.
"I particularly enjoy wearing a dinner suit and being barefoot, which I think is very classy."
However Dave said his wife, who has an extensive collection of shoes, could find his nude toes slightly embarrassing; "We have an arrangement where I don't go to particular places with her."
Dave has developed a "leathery" sole over the years, which prevents pain, and feels no need for extra pampering, apart from occasionally spraying his feet gold for special events.
He is only surprised more people have not followed the same path and broken free of their boots.
"I went to a school reunion and there was a whole room full of 40-something people and I was amazed to be the only one that was barefoot, because I thought law of averages there's bound to be a couple of us here.
"But there weren't! It was just me, again."
Tesco do not feel it is unreasonable to ask its customers to wear shoes
A Tesco spokesperson told BBC Leicester, "Overwhelmingly customers would like other customers to wear shoes in a food store - and we don't think that's an unreasonable request."
This comes after it was reported that shoppers were being asked not to wear pyjamas into a store of Tesco.
Notices have been put up in the chain's St Mellons store in Cardiff saying: "Footwear must be worn at all times and no nightwear is permitted."