Woman asked to leave bar after wheelchair deemed a 'safety risk'

An 18-year-old woman who was escorted out of a nightclub after she was told her wheelchair was a safety risk has described the ordeal as "embarrassing and infuriating".

Maddie Haining, from Oldham, went to Club Tropicana in Manchester's Gay Village on Saturday night with a friend but within five minutes of entering was asked by a bar manager to leave.

She posted a clip to Instagram of the conversation and said: "It's not okay to be removed from bars because you are disabled and different to other people. If they can be in there then why shouldn't we."

Maddie, who was forced to show staff the 2010 Equality Act in protest, said she had been out with a friend at a few other bars in the city that night before they arrived at the club.

She said security staff helped lift her wheelchair into the venue and initially told her and her friend there was no problem with them being there.

Her friend went to buy a drink, and then security came over and told her they were "really sorry" but they had been told to ask her to leave, she said.

When she asked to speak to the manager, he came over and was "horribly rude, really really rude the whole time he was speaking to me", she said.

"I asked 'how was I a safety risk?' If I was a safety risk they wouldn't have let me in in the first place.

"They wouldn't explain why, and then the story changed to that I was a fire risk."

She then showed them the Equality Act on her phone to explain that wheelchair users cannot be removed over a fire risk as evacuation plans must be inclusive.

"I said 'you can't make me leave because I'm in a wheelchair – this is discrimination'," she said.

"But he wasn't having any of it. He just kept repeating himself and not acknowledging anything."

In a statement, the Canal Street club said an investigation was under way into what happened and it "would be inappropriate to comment further".

Manchester City Council confirmed it was looking into what happened after she complained to its licensing committee.

In the statement, Club Tropicana said: "We have not been contacted directly by the complainant but we have been made aware of the incident."

Under the Equality Act, venues have a legal responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to ensure access for disabled people.

This includes providing extra support like ramps for wheelchair users and other measures where practical or proportionate.

Failure to make reasonable adjustments is a form of discrimination, and refusing someone entry because of disability could be a breach of the act.

Maddie said the manager then threatened to pass on any fines the venue received to her.

She told BBC Radio Manchester she eventually decided to leave but asked for the names and contact details of staff so she could file a complaint, before she was escorted out.

"The whole thing was really embarrassing. I was in a bar with my friends and kept getting security sent over," she said.

"It was infuriating as I showed them the law and they had not taken any of it on board.

"I'd never had anything like this happen before, and I know my rights. Being disabled for nearly five years you kind of just learn about this stuff."