A model’s daughter has claimed she was asked to leave a gay bar because her wheelchair was deemed a ‘fire safety hazard’ by nightclub staff.
Maddie Haining, 18, said the distressing incident happened at Club Tropicana in Canal Street, Manchester, on Saturday night.
Ms Haining – whose parents are former British glamour model Michelle Marsh and retired Scottish football star Will Haining – suffers from a chronic nerve disease and has used a wheelchair since she was 13.
Within five minutes of entering the bar, which she attended with a friend, the teen was allegedly approached by a security member who told her the manager had asked for her to leave.
She asked to speak to the manager herself, she claimed, before he came over with another member of staff and said the wheelchair posed a safety risk – later branding it a ‘fire safety hazard’.
But as she tried to challenge staff, Ms Haining was allegedly told the company could be fined if she refused to exit the premises.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘It was just really frustrating. You wouldn’t think somewhere like that, on Canal Street in Manchester, and which is supposed to be inclusive to everybody, is discriminating against people. It’s beyond me.
‘I said you can’t make me leave this bar – it’s discrimination, and it’s illegal – you can’t make me leave because I’m in a wheelchair.’
Footage shows Maddie Haining (left) talking to staff at Club Tropicana on Canal Street in Manchester
Ms Haining (left) with her mother, former British glamour model Michelle Marsh, and younger sister
Ms Haining said she was told the nightclub could face a fine if she didn’t leave the premises, because her wheelchair was a safety hazard
Ms Haining, who is in college, posted a video showing part of the incident on Instagram, which has so far gathered more than 150,000 views, as well as hundreds of comments showing support for the teen.
She claimed she had got up the laws on banning wheelchairs from venues such as nightclubs on her phone to show staff, telling them they couldn’t legally ask to her leave.
Under the Equality Act 2010 in the UK, it is unlawful for a nightclub to ask someone to leave or deny entry simply because they are in a wheelchair.
‘I was on my phone and I googled, “are you allowed to remove a wheelchair user from a bar due to a fire risk”, and it came up again with the same laws,’ Ms Haining said.
‘If you have to make me leave a bar, you have to show me documentation or anything like that, to prove it is a risk for me to be in there, which they weren’t willing to share.’
After she refused to leave, staff allegedly claimed the teen needed to go because her friend had had a drink, despite only ordering a coke.
‘She hadn’t had a drink – she doesn’t drink – and five minutes before she’d bought just a coca cola at the bar, so they had the receipts and had seen she hadn’t bought any alcohol either,’ she said.
Ms Haining told her Instagram followers how she had been asked to leave the club because of her wheelchair
Model Michelle Marsh and retired Scottish football star Will Haining, pictured in 2007
‘I was sick of them coming over to me, they’d come over about four times at this point, it was probably the fifth time they’d come over to me, so I said if it’s really that big of a deal I’ll leave.
‘Outside, we were stopped by some of the performers from inside the bar, and they said, “we’re really sorry for how that’s been handled, we heard it happening inside, and it really isn’t acceptable”.’
A spokesperson for Club Tropicana said: ‘We have not been contacted directly by the complainant but we have been made aware of the Instagram post. We are currently investigating the matter internally and at this time it would be inappropriate to comment further.’
