Guide dog owner kicked out of Premier Inn in Enfield

Owner Angharad Paget-Jones, 29, from Port Talbot in Wales, says she is now taking legal action after being awoken in the night at the Premier Inn in Solar Way, Enfield.

Ms Paget-Jones had checked in at the hotel with her dog Tudor on Saturday (November 5) and encountered no initial issues.

When fireworks briefly halted during Bonfire Night, the owner’s boyfriend took Tudor for a walk as Ms Paget-Jones slept – but when he returned, reception allegedly asked for “proof" he was a guide dog.

Angharad Paget-Jones has joined a campaign calling for stricter legislation to support guide dog owners (Image: Guide Dogs UK)

She said: “They wouldn’t drop it and came up to the room and ended up disturbing me as I was half asleep.

“No one was telling me what was going on, I asked for a manager to help resolve the situation.

“I closed the door for my own modesty as I was just in a T-shirt and underwear, but the staff continued to demand evidence Tudor was a guide dog.”

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The guide dog owner claims that security and hotel staff demanded she left the hotel, despite her asking for a manager while she got dressed and found her guide dog documentation.

Tudor the guide dog (Image: Guide Dogs UK)

She continued: “The staff used a master key to open the door, barging in demanding proof Tudor was a guide dog. I showed them the yellow book, which outlines she is a guide dog and Tudor’s harness has Guide Dogs branding on, but they said this wasn’t sufficient evidence and told us to leave.

“I felt discriminated against, harassed and as though my privacy had been invaded.

“We ended up staying with my partner’s parents, but I ended up having a panic attack that night.

“Days later I’m still impacted walking down the street thinking about what happened to me.”

A video taken during the hotel visit shows a security guard instructing the guests to leave, despite an official Assistance Dogs UK document seen on the bed (Image: Guide Dogs UK)

According to the owner, she faced a similar issue at Starbucks that day.

Blanche Shackleton, head of policy at Guide Dogs UK, said that 81 per cent of guide dog owners have been refused access to a business or service at some point.

Guide Dogs UK is leading an Open Doors campaign calling for stronger legislation so that businesses do not refuse guide dogs.

The Open Doors campaign calls the government to support guide dog owners (Image: Guide Dogs UK)

A spokesperson for Premier Inn said: “At Premier Inn we take the needs and equal treatment of all our guests extremely seriously and all team members receive disability awareness training to make sure our guests all get the same warm welcome and enjoy a great stay.

“We were shocked and appalled to see the upsetting Twitter thread alleging that a guest was asked to leave one of our hotels in Enfield.

“An urgent investigation is already underway with that site to find out exactly what’s happened and we’ve reached out to the Twitter user to fully understand the circumstances of what has taken place and apologise for the upset caused.

“Whilst we cannot comment on the outcome of specific investigations, we take a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination.”