Hypermarket chain Tesco has denied claims that its staff disposed a copy of the Quran and prayer clothes taken from a surau for women at its Mutiara Damansara outlet.

This allegation has been widely circulated online.

"We were informed of this rumour involving the surau for females at Tesco Extra Mutiara Damansara, which was circulated on social media, especially Facebook.

"We would like to explain that the incident is not true and was misinterpreted. The matter has been resolved internally," Tesco public relations officer Siti Haniza Ab Rahman said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

Siti Haniza also urged members of the public to be more responsible in sharing information.

A viral posting on Facebook that claimed a copy of the Quran and prayer clothes were thrown, resulting in a dispute between the branch manager and his staff.

In the post, it was also alleged that workers were threatened not to circulate the issue on the Internet.

The picture appended to the post did not show the Quran in a bin, but prayer clothes were seen in black plastic bags.