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 player 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 requested 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.’ 

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. 

‘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 statement from business owners at Club Tropicana said: ‘We were made aware of the Instagram post on Monday 13th and launched an internal investigation as to the incident that occurred with Maddison Haining.

‘We recieved a formal complaint from Maddison on Tuesday 14th to which we replied with an unreserved apology and confirmed that we were currently carrying out an investigation and that we would share the outcome with her as soon as it was completed.

‘We sent the outcome of the investigation to Maddison this morning and received a reply back thanking us.

‘We have reviewed the CCTV footage and statements from everyone involved. For clarification Club Tropicana is on the first floor up a flight of steps with no disabled access. It is an old building and we have never been advised by the relevant authorities that the building is in contravention to the Equalities Act 2010.

‘According to statements from security staff, they informed Maddison that we do not have disabled access to the first floor. She wasn’t refused entry, her friend carried her upstairs on her back and two further companions carried up her wheelchair. It was a busy Saturday night and the manager on duty in his statement, noticing a wheelchair user in the bar was concerned for her safety and the safety of others in case of an emergency evacuation.

‘We take full responsibility as business owners for the treatment of Maddison on the night. It was completely indefensible, unacceptable and appalling. We have not made a statement until the investigation was complete and Maddison was informed of the outcome. Part of the outcome of the investigation is that we are reviewing our training protocols. We are also reviewing accessibility to Club Tropicana.

‘Once again we offer our sincerest apologies to Maddison for the stress and embarrassment that she experienced in our venue.’