An 11-year-old boy and his family were refused entry to a Pizza Hut restaurant because he was unable to use hand sanitiser they provided.
Blue Braidley has eczema, meaning he cannot use the product as it makes his skin become dry, itchy and painful.
When the family arrived at the Barbican Leisure Park restaurant in Plymouth on Friday, a member of staff greeted them and asked for everyone to use the provided sanitiser.
But when Penny, 46, explained that her son could not use the sanitiser and asked to go to the bathroom to wash his hands with soap, she was refused and asked to leave.
Blue then had a "meltdown", because he did not understand why he could not enter the restaurant, PlymouthLive reports.
Pizza Hut has apologised to the family and said that it hoped they could "understand that at this current time, we have to have a strict policy in place" to protect its customers and staff.
Penny said: "My son was very taken back at the time and after we left he had a meltdown. He is now anxious whenever we approach a store or restaurant and he sees hand santiser.
"We have to now stop before entering an establishment to reassure him that we will deal with anything that may occur.
"I do keep some wipes with me in my bag for him also as something is better than nothing.
"We haven't had any issues anywhere else and we very shocked and angry to be honest.
"It has given my son a real complex about his skin and sanitiser when he already has more than enough to deal with having a hidden mental disability."
The Braidleys, from Northampton, were on the third day of their four-day holiday in Plymouth and felt the incident "marred" the rest of their time in Britain's Ocean City.
"It certainly ruined our evening and marred the rest of our holiday in Plymouth," Penny said.
"This was not the first time eating out in Plymouth. We were on day three of our four day holiday. We obviously understand everyone's anxiousness with regards to coronavirus.
"However like with face masks there are always exceptions, in this case alternatives like washing hands in the toilet or using some kind of wipe that we know is OK for him.
"We would also like to raise awareness of skin conditions and the use of hand sanitiser and the issues it causes people, such as pain, itching and extra dryness."
A Pizza Hut spokesperson said: "Health and safety is of the utmost importance to Pizza Hut Restaurants and it is part of our approach to reduce the risk of the transmission of COVID-19 that all customers are asked to use hand sanitiser before entering the dining area.
"We apologise to the family that visited our Barbican Leisure Park Hut but we hope that they can understand that at this current time we have to have a strict policy in place to protect all of our guests.
"We will continue to review our policies and practises in-line with government guidance and our own risk assessments but health and safety has to remain our top priority at this time.”
