A 65-year-old US woman was not allowed to buy wine in a Maine supermarket as she had no identification to prove her age.

Barbara Skapa said she normally carries her driver's licence, but with her leg in a cast, a friend drove her to the Hannaford Bros market in Farmington last week to buy goods, including bottles of wine.

The cashier told her it was policy to check for identification, said Skapa, who believes "no one would mistake me for 30 or even 40".

Skapa's friend could not buy the wine as it was considered "third-party" purchasing.

The supermarket chain said they check IDs of anyone who looks under 45 and wants to buy alcohol.

In 2005, the state legislature passed a law that anyone who looks under 27 years old must show identification before they can buy alcohol or cigarettes.