A Disabled man was left to eat outside in the rain at the Romsey branch of Prezzo after the pizza restaurant failed to provide access for him to enter the building.
Michael Grimmett, Team Leader for Disabled People’s Organisation, SPECTRUM, tweeted Prezzo on Friday 1 October to ask how he could make a complaint. The tweet went viral.
Having posted a video of himself sitting under a parasol in torrential rain, he wrote: “Hey, @love_prezzo, how does one make a complaint about the lack of ramp access at your Romsey restaurant. I mean you do have a ramp, but it doesn’t fit the doorway, your management were so so rude, forcing me to eat outside in the rain. A unique experience.” The tweet went viral.
Prezzo says it has now acted swiftly to procure a new ramp.
DR UK’s Head of Policy Fazilet Hadi said: “Michael’s experience is all too common. Disabled people are often locked out of day to day life in public spaces because businesses fail to make the reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act, as is their legal duty. We need tougher equality legislation and inspection, the burden of challenging non-compliance shouldn’t fall on Disabled people.”