Mrs Lynn Loching, who had gone with her daughter to MacLean's restaurant for a drink and something to eat, said she felt like a second-class citizen following the experience which happened last Wednesday lunchtime.

She has previously visited Macleans cafe with her daughter, Sarah Woods, and always sits in the buggy, which she uses for getting around, claiming that a problem with her spine makes it nearly impossible for her to sit in the ordinary cafe chairs.

However, on this occasion she decided to leave and go somewhere else after being approached by a member of staff while her daughter was queuing for drinks and told that she was a health and safety hazard and would have to leave her buggy by the front of the shop.

"I felt so belittled," she said. "It is only a small scooter and takes up less space than an ordinary chair when it is pushed under the table."

Mrs Loching said she has never had a problem at the cafe before or at other similar facilities in the town and was really surprised this had happened.

"What about people who can't get out of their wheelchair," she added. "The buggy isn't even as wide as the table. I used to go in all the time before they did the cafe up and pull myself up against a wall, so I was well out of the way."

Her daughter said that she was really angry when her mum called her over, to tell her what had happened.

"I had left her to get the drinks at the counter," she said. "She called me over and told me she had been told she would have to get onto an ordinary chair. I told her we would just leave. I was so mad, but I didn't want to cause a scene."

Proprietor of the Macleans Highland Bakery, Lewis Maclean said that he was very sorry for what had happened and said it wasn't company policy to exclude disabled people from the cafe. He said he had carried out an investigation.

"I would like to speak to the lady in the wheelchair myself," he said. "I have a relative in a wheelchair, and I would be furious if that happened to him."

He explained that the situation had arisen due to a member of staff at the cafe being over-zealous. Staff have been trying to resolve problems caused by large numbers of parents congregating at the cafe with their pushchairs, which cause a hazard when they group together for any length of time.

Lynn Loching was left distraught after being told to get out of her motorised disability buggy in Forres bakery.

He said staff had been asking parents to remove infants and leave puschairs at the door of the cafe for health and safety reasons and the staff member must have taken this one step further.

"What had happened was news to me," he said. "We have an inclusive policy both at the shops and in the factory. This should never have happened."

Mrs Woods said that her mum was very upset by the whole experience and both of them would think twice about going back to the cafe as they felt humiliated. Meantime, she said she was considering Mr Maclean's offer of speaking with him to resolve the issue.

Forres disabled campaigner, Kenny Shand said he was disappointed in what had happened, but not entirely surprised as a lot of companies were still operating less than inclusive policies with regards to disabled access and quoting health and safety legislation to cover their backs.

"As far as I can see, this was a classic and clear case of discrimination," he said. "Common sense would say it is difficult to remove anyone from a disabled buggy and put them into a chair. They could cause proper problems then."

Mr Shand said that could have caused a health and safety issue if the person had fallen or injured themselves getting out of the chair.

"There are too many cases of pulling out the health and safety quote," he said. "If that happens the disabled person should ask the company to explain exactly which piece of health and safety legislation they are referring to. If they can't tell them, then it means nothing."

Mr Shand said he was "totally disgusted" by the whole thing and said employers had a duty to ensure proper training was in place to deal with issues, particularly for those working in restaurants and shops and in direct contact with the public.

t.mclaren@forres-gazette.co.uk

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