6) The Mayor of Margate joins us for a visit to the owner of the Paw Prince Pet Shop to find out why she doesn't want wheelchairs in her shop

We met-up with the Mayor of Margate and visited the owner of the Paw Prince Pet Shop to find out why she will not allow wheelchair access around her shop. Prior to this the Mayor had gone to the shop to advise the owner that we would be calling in at 3pm. The Mayor said that the owner was in a better mood this time and so she was hopeful that we could resolve our issues. However, when we arrived at the pet shop there was a man behind the counter who became very angry and began shouting and using aggressive language during our discussions and we were unable to reason with him or the owner. The owner just kept repeating that wheelchair users should "park" in the corner of the shop and that she had other disabled and pushchair customers that do this, and were served from there.  (I can't believe that Mothers would leave babys in pushchairs in the front corner of the shop or that wheelchair users do this either, I have been shopping in there for years and have never seen anyone do this!)
The shop layout had been changed a little but wheelchairs still couldn't get to the counter as there there were three, 12"x10" plastic bags of parrot seeds laid end to end along the floor in front of the access to the counter and when we suggested that if the bags were moved to the empty shelf above, there would be access for wheelchair users, the man shouted that if he moved the parrot food, his parrot customers wouldn't know where to find it, I said that the parrot seed should be "parked in the corner", then there would be room for wheelchairs to access the counter, but this suggestion made him even more irate.
I believe the bags of parrot seeds were laid on the floor as a deliberate obstruction to wheelchair users, so the shopkeeper can continue to say "there is no room in her shop for wheelchairs"!
I said they were breaking the law by not allowing wheelchair access, the man then accused me of moving "fixtures and fittings", I replied that I could not have done this without tools, he shouted me down. The Mayor tried to calm him and told him that we had to find a compromise, he became enraged.
The Mayor told him to stop shouting in front of my daughter as it was not a good thing because she'd had a Stroke, but he continued shouting so much that she went and sat outside the shop in her wheelchair.because he'd embarrassed her so much.  The Mayor and myself also had to leave the shop too because of his hostility. 
I found it was a frightening experience and we were both glad that the Mayor was with us, otherwise who knows what might have happened !

5) Mayor of Margate gets involved and Paw Prince Reply to Registered Letter of Complaint

I have been in contact with Margate's Mayor Iris Johnston who said that she went to see the owner of the Paw Prince pet shop but the owner was in a bad mood, so the Mayor suggested that my daughter and myself should accompany her on another visit to the petshop to try to resolve the issue of not allowing my daugher's wheelchair in the shop. However, before this meet-up happened, my daugher recieved a reply to the registered letter that I had sent on her behalf to the Paw Prince pet shop, and this is what the owner wrote:


I'm sorry that you felt you were being discriminated against, I do not and would not object to disabled people coming into our shop. We have in fact had our once single entrance converted into a double one to enable easier access for disabled customers, however our shop simply isn't big enough for wheelchairs or pushchairs to manoeuvre around the shop. We do try to keep a wide entrance just inside the doorway for wheelchairs and pushchairs to park, where our staff will then be more than happy to serve customers from.
For health and safety reasons we cannot allow customers to be moving fixtures and fittings and stock around the shop, as they are not only expensive to replace if they get damaged, but could also cause an injury.
I trust this has cleared up any misunderstanding that you may have had.
Regards
For and on behalf of Paw Prince.

4) She doesn't want disability wheelchairs in her shop, so I've sent a Registered Letter about this shocking discrimination

After contacting the local CAB, about the Margate pet shop owner who is discriminating against my disabled daughter by obstructing her wheelchair access into and around her shop and has also told us that obstructions are deliberate, because she doesn't want disability wheelchairs in her shop, I talked to my daughter about taking this a little further and she agreed to me writing and sending a Registered Letter on her behalf,  asking the pet shop owner for an explanation of her shocking discriminatory actions. 
We are hoping that this letter will prompt this disgraceful shopkeeper, at the very least, to send my daughter an apology, but I doubt that any apology (even if it is forthcoming) will help my daughter get over the public humiliation that she has suffered.

This is a copy of the registered letter, sent on behalf of my daughter.

Last month I came into your Pet Shop called the Paw Prince and you told me I am not allowed in your shop in my wheelchair, even though every Saturday for the last two years, I have bought treats for my dog from your Margate town centre pet shop.
I cannot walk or use my right arm, so I have to shop in my powered wheelchair, but my Mum, who is also my carer, always has to move things out of the way of my chair because the access inside your shop is restricted by various obstacles such as cardboard adverts, baskets of sale items and bags of bird seed etc stacked on the floor making it difficult to choose what I want and then get to the counter to pay. However, last month, after paying for my purchases and on leaving the store you said to my Mum, "Stop moving things in my shop", my Mum replied that she "only moved the cardboard advert enough to allow my wheelchair to pass and that you should make your shop easier for disabled access and not leave things around to block floor space and obstruct wheelchair users" to which you replied, "I don't want people in wheelchairs coming into my shop"! . We said that we will never shop in your shop again and you replied "thats OK I don't want you in my shop in a wheelchair"!
We contacted the Equality & Human Rights Commission, They advised us that: Under Part 3 of the Equality Act, it is unlawful for anyone providing a service to the public in the U.K. to fail to make a reasonable adjustment without justification to the physical features of their premises if a disabled person finds it impossible or unreasonably difficult to access those premises.
You don't even need to make any alterations to your store, just to keep objects cleared off the floor, where they are a danger to able bodied shoppers too.
After receiving advise from the Equality & Human Rights Commission, we then returned to your pet shop and my Mum took some photos of your obstructed isles and quoted to you the Equality Act 2010 in regard to wheelchair accessibility and asked you to make the minor adjustments to allow access for me in my wheelchair. You replied that " you would rather serve me outside the shop than have my wheelchair come in and that you do not want any disabled persons in wheelchairs riding around your shop as the floor would not take the weight of a wheelchair and would collapse into the cellar below"!! We said, "If this is true, then she should place a weight restriction warning sign outside your shop ", then you became angry and told us to leave your shop and refused to discuss the issues with us any more.
I just want to be treated like any other able bodied shopper and have access to Margate town centre shops, the way I used to before I became disabled. I want to continue to shop in Margate and as Margate has THE most run down High Street in the country, Margate shops should welcome even disabled customers. There is strong competition from nearby Westwood Cross but your high street shop doesn't deserve the support and loyalty that my Mum, my Auntie and myself are trying to provide by shopping in Margate's high street every Saturday.
Because of my condition, my Mother and my Aunt are acting as my advocates as as they have already discussed these issues with you and you have continued to ignore us, we are explaining the issue to you again in this Registered letter. A copy of this letter is also being sent to the local Chamber of Commerce too.I feel you have breached my human rights, I also feel that I have a complaint on human rights grounds, and I would like a response from you to my complaint.

3) Margate High Street's shops e.g. Paw Prince pet shop, doesn't deserve support and loyalty of local shoppers

Thanks for you kind words of support Nicky. 
Yes you are correct it was Margate High Street that was recently reported, in fact Margate has THE most run down High Street in the country?  The Paw Prince Pet shop doesn't even need to make any alterations to the store, they just need to keep objects cleared off the floor, where they are a danger to able bodied shoppers too. There is strong competition from nearby Westwood Cross but some of the shops that are left in the Margate High Street (not all the shops tho), don't deserve the support and loyalty that my Daughter, my Sister and myself are trying to provide by continuing to shop in Margate's high street every Saturday,
I will try to see if The British Legion would be able to advise us or assist your cause but I wouldn't hold my breath as I have contacted a charity called Headway 5 weeks ago and did not even receive a reply from them. I am also waiting for a reply from Yourable, I'm still amazed that the body that you would expect to help, The Equality & Human Rights Commission were as useful as a chocolate teapot!
Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog.
Chris

Chris's Blog - Good n Bad Disabled Access in Thanet Shops, Pubs and Restaurants.

Since my daughter was told by the shopkeeper of the Margate pet shop Paw Prince, that disabled wheelchair users were not wanted in her shop, it has brought to the forefront of my mind that some other services in the Thanet towns of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs in Kent, have shown little or no interest in providing wheelchair access into their premises for my daughter  or when inside she encounters any obstructions, they turned a blind eye to her difficulty.

Following a complaint about the actions of the Margate pet shop owner that I sent to the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC), they emailed back to me a list of four choices that a service provider has when it comes to overcoming a physical feature on their premises as quoted in Part 3 of the Equality Act 2010.
The service provider can either: remove the feature altogether, alter it in some way, provide a means of avoiding it; or provide the service by an alternative method The EHRC also added that it is better for an organisation to look at removing or altering the physical feature or finding a way of avoiding it (such as replacing steps with a ramp or, if it is reasonable for it to do this, a lift).
I now have a better understanding of the UK law and how it is designed to "eliminate disability discrimination to ensure that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society", I am using my blog site to inform disabled people and their families and friends, about premises that in our experience, cause difficulties for the disabled. I'll try to describe our experiences (good and bad), in Thanet shops, pubs, restaurants etc. that too often fail to "make a reasonable adjustment without justification to the physical features of their premises" .  

• Paw Prince pet shop in Margate Kent, has been our worst experience of disability discrimination to date since my daughter's severe stroke a couple of years ago left her paralysed down her right side and a permanent wheelchair user, ... this shopkeeper said that she "does not want wheelchairs coming into her shop" ! But if you've read my previous blog (Tuesday, 30 August 2011) you will already know about this encounter.
• The Royal pub/restaurant at Harbour Parade in Ramsgate, caused an awkward experience for my daughter when she went to the Royal for lunch with my husband and myself. The weather was good so we would have been quite happy to sit outside and eat our meal but all the pavement tables were occupied, so we thought we could go inside to eat our lunch (all the tables inside were empty). There are two doors at the front, unfortunately both the doors have one or more steps up, so I popped into the Royal and asked a bartender if there was a disabled entrance, I was told that there wasn't one. I then asked for a wheelchair ramp to go over the steps, the bartender said she didn't know if they had any and proceeded to ask several other members of staff and the answer came back as ... "no", the Royal doesn't have a ramp for wheelchair access. I went outside where my daughter and husband were waiting and told them that we couldn't go in because of the wheelchair. Some male customers who were smoking outside wanted to try and help us by lifting my daughter in her powered wheelchair over the step, but as the wheelchair weighs 93kg, it was impossible and my daughter felt embarrassed with the attention, so we thanked the men for their help and decided to leave and take our custom elsewhere.
• The Turner Centre has level disabled access into the actual building and my daughter in her powered wheelchair, had no problem driving up the zig zag slope to the entrance but my husband who is also disabled and walks with the support of a stick, found the extremely long walk up the slope, very arduous and painful. However, my daughter's problem came before we reached the zig zag slope, when we drove into the car park at the rear of the museum we surprised to find a tiny car park just for disabled parking only. After waiting 25 minutes for a vacant parking space, we parked the car and proceeded with my daughter in her wheelchair towards the front of the Turner Centre, only to find that there was no dropped curb for wheelchair access onto the pavement from the purpose-built disabled car park, which meant that she had to drive her wheelchair along the middle of the car park access road, bypassing cars queueing at the red traffic light, she then had to turn left across the front of those cars, to find the dropped curb facing out towards the middle of the crossroads. A very dangerous place to be when the traffic lights change to green!                                                                      When we eventually got into in the Turner Centre, we asked why there wasn't a dropped curb for wheelchairs to get onto the pavement directly from the disabled car park and were told that the dropped curb had been omitted during the building work, but there had been a wooden ramp placed at the curb for wheelchair access onto the pavement ..but it had been stolen!! 
• The ASK restaurant at Westwood Cross has good level access for wheelchairs, the staff are happy to help with doors or misplaced chairs and in general they give a great service for disabled customers. Unfortunately, the disabled user's toilet has two very large bins standing on the floor space and leaves no room for turning a wheelchair.**.                                                                                There are other establishments and not just in Thanet, where disabled toilets often double as store cupboards for broken chairs, buckets, caution-cones and other items of cleaning equipment, making the access and turning a wheelchair very tricky.                      
• The David Copperfield restaurant in Broadstairs near to Asda, gave us a very pleasant experience for lunching with excellent wheelchair access and the staff are very helpful in providing the most comfortable table available for wheelchair access and the disabled toilet access is good.***
• The Ambrette restaurant in Margate provides a wonderful experience for lunching with good wheelchair access and staff that go out of their way to provide the most comfortable table that they have available. The restaurant doors can be a little tricky for a wheelchair, but the staff  have always been ready to help.  Their disabled toilet is excellent with no obstructions and is a decent size for turning in a  wheelchair.***
• Comfort Inn restaurant in Ramsgate has good disabled access into the restaurant and there is plenty of space for wheelchairs to move through the restaurant.  The food is good value for money and there are wonderful views across the English Channel ..BUT there are NO disabled toilets at all!   One of the four toilet cubicles has a right hand rail ... but it doesn't pull down as it is obstructed by the toilet roll holder!  It is very difficult for a wheelchair user to access the toilet area and impossible for a wheelchair user to use the toilet if, on their own!
• Broadstairs Tandoori is Nepalese, Gurkha owned and run restaurant in Broadstairs town which has good flat access into the restaurant and the staff could not be more helpful to ensure that the wheelchair user is comfortable in their restaurant, even supplying wooden blocks to place under the table legs should extra height be required to allow the wheelchair to be positioned comfortably under the table. There is no disabled toilet, however, the toilet is easily accessed in a wheelchair but as there is no turning space, you have to reverse out. The food is excellent and reasonably priced. ***

2) Margate Pet Shop owner said she doesn't want disability wheelchairs in her

Chris's blog reply:
I haven't yet managed to find an official body who might take up this disabilities discrimination case on behalf of my daughter.  I wrote to the Equality & Human Rights Commission which incorporates Disabilities Discrimination, they just quoted Part 3 of the Equality Act and said they only provide information.  They did not offer any advice about any organisations that could help.  I think this owner of the pet shop just needs someone in an official capacity to inform her that her attitude to disabled people is against the law and that she is in fact breaking the law by not allowing wheelchairs into / or proper access around her shop.
I wish I could find a local organisation that could let every disabled person and their families and friends in Thanet know that they will not be welcomed in this Margate town centre pet shop. As I said in my last blog, my daughter does not want to be a story in the local newspaper as she has only been in a wheelchair for 2 years and is still coming to terms with her disabilities.  Anyway, I am not convinced that a local newspaper would want to print this story as there could be a conflict of interest for the newspaper if the Margate pet shop ever places advertisements with the paper.  
Someone suggested that I contact HeadWay the brain injury association, to ask if they can help,  I sent an email to them but that was over 2 weeks ago and I have not had any reply from them at all.  
Chris

1) Disability discrimination in Margate, Kent Pet Shop

Every Saturday, myself and my sister accompany my disabled daughter in her wheelchair to visit the Paw Prince pet shop in Margate High Street.  My daughter owns a dog, so does my sister and I have two dogs so we always spend money in this shop as it is the only Pet shop in the town centre. However, every week we find that access inside the shop is restricted by various obstacles such as bags of bird seed etc stacked on the floor and more often than not, a large (6ft x 4ft ish) cardboard freestanding pet food advert on display inside the store which I have to move slightly as it blocks access to the half of the shop that displays dog toys, bones and treats that my daughter wants to buy. She has never been offered any help with access around the store from the shop assistant (who I believe is also the proprietor of the shop).

This person has always made my daughter feel uncomfortable when in the shop, she gives my daughter "dirty looks" and turns away when she can clearly see that something needs to be moved from off the floor to allow her wheelchair access to the counter to pay for her purchases, but I have always tried to reassure my daughter that this is just the personality of the shopkeeper and that her disgruntled attitude is not personally directed at her.

BUT .... this Saturday (20th Aug 2011) the three of us were completely shocked by the discriminatory attitude and cruel words from the shopkeeper when after paying for our purchases and on leaving the store she said to us "stop moving things in the shop" I replied that "I only moved the cardboard advert enough to allow my daughters wheelchair to pass", my sister added "you should make your shop easier for disabled access by not leaving things around to block floor space and obstructing wheelchair users" to which the shop keeper replied "I don't want people in wheelchairs coming into my shop".

My daughter was very upset, as this statement confirmed to her that all the bad looks and obstructions in the shop had been directed at her personally because she is a disabled person.

Two years ago my daughter suffered a severe stroke at the age of 38 which left her paralysed down her right side and with speech difficulties, yet despite her disability she is very independent, lives on her own with her dog and does everything for herself regardless of the extra effort and time that is required for her to complete her household chores. She wants to shop for herself and not to wait outside a shop in her wheelchair and have to send somebody else in to shop for her and she wants to pay for her own purchases at the counter.

This terrible incident has knocked her confidence and upset us all, she feels that she is not allowed to go into the pet shop and really never has been, she also worries now that other shopkeepers may feel the same way about her going into their shops!

If we said that we will never shop there again that would just be playing into the shopkeepers hands as that is what she said that she wants, for us never to go into her shop with a wheelchair again!!!

 I emailed these events to the Equality & Human Rights Commission, hoping that they would contact the pet shop owner and inform her of the law regarding service providers e.g. shops and disabled persons using their premises. However, from their reply it seems that they are only an information and advisory service and most of the info they sent me, I had already found out for myself from searching the Internet! 

They advised me that:  

Under Part 3 of the Equality Act, it is unlawful for anyone providing a service to the public in the U.K. to fail to make a reasonable adjustment without justification to the physical features of their premises if a disabled person finds it impossible or unreasonably difficult to access those premises.

I have returned to the pet shop since receiving the information on  Part 3 of the Equality Act and spoken with the shopkeeper and asked her to make the minor adjustments to allow my daughter access to the shop in her wheelchair e.g. removing obstructions such as the large cardboard advert, the freestanding baskets of sale goods in the middle of the aisles and the bags of bird seed stacked along the edges of the floor and in front of the counter.

Her reply was "that why should I move them when you are with her to move them out of her way".

I reminded her that the previous week, she had told me "to stop moving things in her shop".

She then said that "she would serve my daughter outside the shop rather than have her come in". 

I pointed out to her my concerns under the Equality Act 2010 in regards to my daughters wheelchair accessibility, to which the shopkeeper replied that " she did not want any disabled persons in wheelchairs riding around her shop as the floor would not take the weight of a wheelchair and would collapse into the cellar below"!!  

When I said to her "that if this is true,  then she should place an access warning sign outside her shop, with a weight restriction", she became angry and told us to leave her shop and refused to discuss the issues with us any more. 

So what can we do now?  

My daughter doesn't really want to start legal proceedings, or ask a local newspaper take up the cause, she  does not want to be thrust into the limelight, or anything else that might come about if this were to spiral out of control and she is not looking for compensation if she were to win a case in court.  She just wants treated like any other able bodied shopper and have access to Margate town centre shops, the way she used to before she had her Stroke.

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