Alexandra resident Tom Farrell said he was surprised he had to queue and have every item ticked off the receipt when leaving Kmart at Lansell Square in Kangaroo Flat on three occasions in December and this month.

He said there were lengthy queues, and on one occasion, a woman carrying a number of bags was left flustered when she had to have them checked.

Mr Farrell said he had been to several other Kmart stores around the state and had never been subject to such an intensive search, despite other stores having the same layout.

He questioned whether the company thought of Bendigo residents as thieves.

“It’s not the fact that they’re checking, it’s the fact they’re being inconsistent,” Mr Farrell said.

A Kmart spokesperson said it was a condition of entry across all stores that if requested, customers present any bags, parcels, cartons or containers and receipt for checking before leaving the store.

The spokesperson said how receipts were checked was at the discretion of each individual store.

“Kmart does not unlawfully discriminate against customers when conducting bag checks,” they said.

The spokesperson did not explain why the Bendigo store had chosen to conduct thorough checks.

After making a complaint, Mr Farrell said he was called and told that security footage showed there were not long queues – a statement he refuted – and that the store policy was displayed at the entrance.

He said he was dissatisfied with the response.