Tanyalee Davis: More train trouble for disabled comedian

Tanyalee Davis is an award-winning comedian who bases much of her comedy on her experiences

A comedian "humiliated" for using a train's disabled space for her mobility scooter has described another bad experience on the railways.

Tanyalee Davis was on her way to York for a gig and had contacted staff to help her get off the LNER train.

She waited by the door for a ramp for her mobility scooter, but no-one came and the train left York for Darlington.

Passengers alerted the guard who said station staff told him they had helped her off. LNER later apologised.

The guard was "mortified" and apologised himself, and despite a 60-minute round trip Ms Davis made it to her gig on Friday night.

Tanyalee Davis sent an internet message about her experience and said she would use it in her @scootergate saga act

When she arrived at York station, staff were so apologetic they bought her two bottles of wine.

A spokesman for the train company LNER said: "We are very sorry for the unacceptable experience Ms Davis had whilst travelling with us.

"We are fully investigating the incident to understand what went wrong and to ensure that lessons are learnt for the future."

Previously Canadian-born Ms Davis, 47, who has a form of dwarfism, had experienced a "humiliating" row with a guard on a GWR train.

She had been travelling from Plymouth to London and was told to move from an unreserved space after a young mother asked to use it for a pram.

Ms Davis said she felt "personally and publicly humiliated" after the guard threatened to call the police.

GWR said: "We got it wrong, it made no sense. A wheelchair space is a wheelchair space, it's not for luggage or pushchairs."

Speaking about the latest incident Ms Davis, of Norwich, said she just wanted to highlight problems she had been encountering for the last 15 years.