Wheelchair user 'pushed from Brighton's Legends club dancefloor'

Mr Paul said a bouncer asked him to leave the nightclub

A wheelchair user has expressed anger after claiming his chair was pushed off a dancefloor by nightclub staff.

Tyler Paul, 29, was on a basement dancefloor at Legends in Brighton when he said he was asked to leave.

A video on social media appears to show a bouncer grabbing his wheelchair to escort him off the dancefloor.

Legends apologised, but said the video only showed a "snapshot". It also said its basement was not wheelchair-accessible due to fire regulations.

Mr Paul, from Worthing, has cerebral palsy. He uses a wheelchair, but can walk with support.

'Unacceptable'

He visited the nightclub on Saturday, and walked downstairs to the basement dancefloor with the help of friends during the evening.

He said he was initially asked to sign a document saying he was happy to be downstairs.

But ten minutes later, Mr Paul said another bouncer asked him to leave.

He said when he questioned why, the bouncer started pushing his chair to make him leave the dancefloor.

He explained: "That's the same as someone coming up to an able-bodied person and touching their body and pushing them along.

"I just found that unacceptable."

Footage uploaded to social media appears to show Mr Paul being escorted from the dancefloor by a bouncer

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, said inaccessible venues are an "everyday occurrence" for disabled people.

She said: "The burden of challenging venues always falls on us as disabled people. That's really, really hard."

Mik Scarlet, an accessibility consultant who has advised venues like the Ministry of Sound, says staff at venues need better training.

"You don't put your hands on people and just grab them. You don't talk down to them," he told the BBC.

"I'm afraid most nightclub security staff do not have that level of training."

The Security Industry Authority, which regulates bouncers in the UK, said staff with its licenses were "trained in aspects of the differing needs of customers with disabilities".

Legends is one of Brighton's premier LGBT+ venues

Legends said in a statement its bouncers had acted "with full professionalism".

The nightclub also said the video only showed a "snapshot" of what happened.

It said fire regulations prevented wheelchair-users from accessing the basement, and when Mr Paul was asked to go back upstairs he refused.

However, it said that it was "sorry" that Mr Paul wasn't able to enjoy his night.

Mr Paul said he hopes sharing his experience would encourage venues to be more accessible.

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