A NIGHTCLUB owner has apologised to women from Ellesmere Port after they complained of wheelchair access issues which prevented them from meeting X Factor star Olly Murs.
Hayley Parsonage, 24, of Bridge Meadow, Ellesmere Port contacted The Pioneer to register her disgust at the way she and her friends, including three wheelchair users were treated by Cruise on St John Street, Chester on Friday April 9.
Brendan McLoughlin of Cruise, apologised for the problems .
He said tickets stated Olly would be performing at the venue and there would be a “chance to meet him”.
He added: “No extra charge above our normal Friday night entry charge, which is only £5, was levied and the event was not purported to be a one-offconcert but as a personal appearance.
“Olly Murs’ management were not prepared to allow photos to be taken of people with him that they could not vet as apparently a number of celebrities have posed for innocent photographs with the public only to find that they have been framed by the person doing something lewd as the photograph was taken.”
Mr McLoughlin said chesterevents.com were given permission to take photographs after promising to veto the results, on the insistence of Olly Murs’ management.
He added: “We had not advertised anything about photo opportunities but nevertheless are sorry if anyone was disappointed in this regard or feel that Chester events.com were excessive in charging £5.
“Personally I feel this was a reasonable charge for their services and a good compromise in the situation.”
He said the club’s policy is not to discriminate against disabled customers and that he had spoken to members of Hayley’s party, one of whom has volunteered to help with staff training.
