A BLIND couple claim their celebration meal was scrubbed from the menu when they arrived at a restaurant with their guide dog.

Partially-sighted Don Walmsley telephoned the Petre Arms at Langho in advance to ensure that he and blind girlfriend Elizabeth Berry would be allowed to eat with the working dog at their side.

But Don says he was told "no chance" when he tried to order food for Elizabeth's 37th birthday.

The couple and another friend travelled to the pub by private hire cab on Saturday night for the meal to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday on Tuesday last week.

Don, of Douglas Place, Roe Lee, Blackburn, said: "I rang up to book the meal and told them that we were both registered blind and that my girlfriend would have a guide dog with her.

"I was told by the manager that it would be fine and went along on Saturday as planned.

"When we arrived, I went to the bar and explained that my name was Mr Walmsley and that I had booked a table for a meal.

"But when I tried to order the food, the man behind the bar said 'I'm not serving you with food because you have a dog with you.'

"I explained that it was a guide dog and a working dog and he said it didn't make any difference."

The couple both work at the Mill Hill Day Centre in Blackburn and had met at the Cemetery Hotel for the night out. Elizabeth, of Great Harwood, has been blind since she was about 21 and Don was diagnosed as having an hereditary sight problem at birth.

He added: "We were both very angry and upset. Neither the manager nor manageress were on the premises.

"In the end we got another taxi up to the Lord Nelson pub and their treatment couldn't have been more different. They made us really welcome."

Today Mr Robert Woods, area manager of the Samuel Smith's Brewery which owns the Petre Arms, said he was not prepared to make any comment.

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