A HOTEL has apologised after a blind woman was refused entry because she was accompanied by her guide dog.

Outrage was sparked when Nicky West, 50, from Romsey, was denied a table at The Potters Heron restaurant in Ampfield on August 6. It is the second time it had happened.

She says she was met with rudeness by a member of staff in the establishment which has received a `very good` rating on Trip Adviser.

Eventually Nicky, and her registered assistance dog, Lily were allowed into the restaurant, but she felt it was too late and complained to management before leaving.

When she did not receive a response to her complaint, she contacted the Romsey Advertiser, the Chronicle's sister paper

Nicky has now received an apology from Pebble Hotels chairman Ted Kennedy, who said in a letter dated to Nicky on August 11: “We are truly sorry that we did not recognise you had an assistance dog with you and failed to make you welcome and please accept my apologies for that.

“We have reached out to the RNIB to assist us with specific training which we will be running for all of the team, and we have also asked an external agency to review our DDA readiness and policies. We already have a DDA module, and we will be ensuring our team refresh on that too. Once again, our apologies.”

Pebble Hotels have told Nicky they have accepted responsibility and will now look to move forward to provide better training for staff to prevent this from happening again.

Ludo Merleix, manager at The Potters Heron, confirmed that he has been informed by Pebble Hotels, they will be partnering with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to ensure staff are better trained.

Romsey Advertiser has contacted Pebble Hotels and RNIB and is waiting for comments.

Nicky says she is happy with the response from Pebble Hotels but has declined the offer of dining there again.