A shop assistant was suspended from work and forced to apologise after calling Chelsea defender John Terry 'a pig' and 'a disgrace'.

Elisha Ram, 23, was working at a department store concession when the former England captain and his wife Toni walked in - and overheard her telling a colleague 'he is quite good looking in real life - but he's a pig.'

A tearful Miss Ram said she was sorry, but the defender demanded to see her manager at Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, to complain about her conduct.

Miss Ram was then suspended from her job at the store's All Saints concession, pending an investigation by her bosses.

Miss Ram said she had greeted Terry, 33, as he walked into the shop on Monday, before turning to her workmate and told them her feelings on the footballer, describing him as a pig.

The worried colleague told Miss Ram to be quiet, and she then realised the conversation had been overheard by Mrs Terry, who married the footballer in 2007 after the pair started dating as teenagers.

The footballer, who lives in nearby Oxshott, then reportedly marched towards Miss Ram, and told her she should not have called him a pig while his wife was present.

'I said I was really really sorry. Then I just snapped, got defensive and retaliated, saying, 'you're a disgrace,' Miss Ram's friend told The Sun's Andy Crick.

Terry then asked to see her the manager, telling Miss Ram's boss that he wouldn't have commented on Miss Ram as he did not know her, adding: 'And she doesn't know me to call her a pig.'

According to The Sun, Miss Ram told a friend that she had made the pig remark after reading reports which alleged Terry had cheated on his wife, who is mother to his twin children Georgie John and Summer Rose - who turn eight on Sunday.