A man who suffers from a serious condition was left feeling shaken and scared after being denied access to a disabled toilet in McDonald's.
Sam, 31, who has Crohn's disease, was visiting Cardiff for a night out with his husband and his friends when he entered the Queen Street branch of McDonald's for some food at around 4.30am on April 24, Bristol Live reported.
He was diagnosed with the stomach condition nearly 20 years ago and in that time has had to use a stoma bag for nearly seven of those years.
Speaking on his experience, Sam said: "I noticed that the accessible toilet was barricaded, restricting the access and stopping vulnerable people from being able to use it. When I politely asked the security guard on duty to use the toilet - as I have my own radar key - I was told 'no'.
"I explained that I had my own key, I have a disability and I need to use the toilet. He replied saying 'You’re not disabled' and asked for my blue badge, which isn't possible as that was in my car.
"It wasn't until I was very blunt with him and reached for my Just Can't Wait Card that he reluctantly removed the barricade and allowed me entry."
The Just Can’t Wait Card issued by UK charities is recognised and supported by many retail and service organisations, giving people access to toilets not normally available to the general public.
McDonald's has apologised to Sam for his experience and has said they recognise the situation was "not handled correctly".
Sam said he was offered three £10 vouchers redeemable on the circumstances of spending at least £10 with the fast food chain.
He added that the experience has made him feel apprehensive about using public bathrooms in future out of fear of similar treatment.
"I am now even more worried about using an accessible toilet and as a result, I have cancelled some planned trips, as I am scared I will not be able to use the bathroom," he said.
"I now feel scared to ask to use an accessible toilet worried that this will happen again.
"I feel that I did everything I could by having my Just Can't Wait Card and radar key on me to prevent this from happening but none of this worked and makes me even more apprehensive about going out in public."
A spokesperson for McDonald's told the Mirror: “Firstly, we would like to once again apologise to the customer for his experience.
"We recognise that this incident was not handled correctly and our restaurant team has reiterated our expectations to the external security company in question to ensure this does not happen again.
"We pride ourselves on providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all our customers, and we are disappointed that we have fallen short on this occasion."
