The mum of a brain-damaged toddler has hit out at Legoland staff for telling her she was “not allowed” to feed her daughter in their cafe, despite having bought food for herself.
Beth Procter had been on a family day out at Legoland, in Windsor, on June 13 with her partner Nicky Ng, 32, and her three children, including their two-year-old daughter Lela, who has brain damage.
The 26-year-old had waved off her older kids to enjoy a ride while she sought out a spot at the cafe to feed little Lela, who uses a nasogastric (NG) tube for food and medication.
The mum-of-three and bartender claims that despite buying a slice of cake and a drink, she was approached by a member of the waiting staff who told her she was “not allowed” to do that in the cafe.
Shocked, she finished up feeding her daughter before leaving her table “angry and upset”, vowing to boycott the popular resort having felt as though the disabled tot wasn't welcome on site.
Legoland have said they were “incredibly disappointed” to hear of the incident and claimed they had apologised and provided a refund to the family.
However, Beth, from Morecambe, Lancashire is adamant that she has received neither.
The young mum said she was angry and upset at what she said was a “sly, offhand” comment.
"Lela uses an NG tube and I was feeding her through that. She was born premature and she has brain damage. She's a disabled child,” she explained.
"It wasn't like we'd gone in there and made a mess - it was anything dirty or bad.
"I felt she wasn't welcome compared to the other children because she was different.”
Her partner Nicky was even more angry than her upon hearing of the incident, she said, which they both felt had tarnished the family day out.
Almost two months on, Beth feels the issue still hasn't been resolved.
She had mentioned the lack of promised refund to customer service and had allegedly been told their staffer didn’t remember making the comment.
"We got a long-winded email from Legoland saying all the staff are trained and all that rubbish, then they offered us free tickets but we live 200 miles away,” she said.
A statement from Legoland said a full investigation was in progress, through which the resort hoped to establish more detail around what had happened.
Feeding requirements of any kind were welcomed, and the venue was “shocked and saddened” to hear of the “isolated incident”, the statement said.
All staff received ongoing accessibility awareness training that focused on communicating with guests who had disabilities, while an “Accessibility Experience Team” was on hand to assist guests, to ensure all individuals had the best possible experience.
