Brighton hotel 'turned away lesbian couple'

A lesbian couple is taking legal action against a hotel after they claimed they were turned away for being gay.

Rebecca Nash, 22, and Hope Stubbings, 19, said they booked a double room at the Brunswick Square Hotel in Brighton by telephone. But when they arrived they claim they were told by the manager that no rooms were available and that the hotel only accepted straight couples and families.

A spokesman for the human rights group Liberty said the women, from Andover, Hampshire, were ushered out of the hotel by the manager who became aggressive and threatened to call police unless they left. The couple were unable to find alternative accommodation and had to drive home.

Liberty is bringing proceedings on the couple's behalf on the grounds they were discriminated against contrary to the Equality Act 2010.

The hotel's manager, who did not want to be named, said the incident in October had been a misunderstanding. He said: "This is Brighton – we have taken hundreds of gay people here. This is really upsetting. The only time we send people away is if they are loud or hooligans."