I love music and I like shopping so I have no objection to mixing a little retail therapy with a burst of melody - pop, rock, classical or throbbing house tracks - I don't mind.

What I do object to is offensive lyrics.

I don't mean the kind of veiled suggestions made by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in their controversial Eighties single Relax or attempts at provocative 21st Century pop like Christina Aguilera's Dirty.

I mean full-on, foul-mouthed, four-letter expletives.

For example, while browsing through the racks in JD Sports, my ears were assaulted by an angry rapper. I cannot repeat the lyrics in a family newspaper but one was mother and the other rhymed with trucker.

And the stream of abuse went on, booming out loud and clear for everyone in the shop, and those passing by, to hear.

I rushed to the nearest shop assistant and complained. The young woman seemed utterly unconcerned but agreed to pass on my complaint to the manager.

I subsequently wrote twice to JD Sports - as a customer, not a journalist - and received no reply never mind an apology.

Last week a colleague was in an off-licence in Kemp Town. What he heard booming over the PA system almost made him drop his plonk.

Again, for decency's sake, I cannot quote verbatim but the gist of it was the preferred sexual position of the singer in the most graphic detail.

I'm not a prude. Gangsta rap, played in the appropriate venue, goes in one ear and out the other.

We all know sex sells music and consumer goods. But do we really need this type of offensive aural assault?

This music was being played not in clubs or dancefloors but in the middle of the day in public places and, in the case of JD Sports, to young, impressionable customers.

JD Sports is a major High Street name and is in a prime position in Churchill Square. What kind of impression does this create?

Who decides what is suitable for public consumption?

Derek Maddison, Churchill Square's manager, said it was up to individual shops to select music for the "quiet enjoyment" of their clientele. He said he would be talking to JD Sports about their choice.

I don't want to see the return of the ear-numbing muzak that has now been largely confined to hotel lobbies. But how can it not occur to shops that not all their customers want to be sworn and shouted at?

If I set up stall in Brighton yelling obscenities, I'd be arrested and carted off to the funny farm.

But if I cussed to a backing track, would that be fine?

Only when I played the "Press" card did JD Sports jump to attention. Their PR manager Karl Johnson rang to say: "I heard you were a bit disgusted by what you heard." Quite.

He assured me JD had a strict music policy aimed at the urban hip-hop market and should not include "foul and abusive" language.

Brighton store manager Steve Flavin said a staff member had probably sneaked on their own CD. He apologised and promised it would never happen again.

Well, JD Sports and all the others who bludgeon their customers with verbal abuse - wash your mouths out with soap and learn some manners - nay, good public relations - by listening to them instead of your own CD collection.

Lis Solkhon is away