A MAN and his disabled wife who attended Crufts on the weekend have expressed their anger after their hotel asked them to leave an hour and a half after checking in because of their dog.

Clive and Linda Walker, of Blackwood, were one of thousands of couples who attended the renowned competition and showed their Shar Pei Harry at the NEC in Birmingham over the weekend.

The couple had booked a hotel in advance for the event on the booking site Expedia, with Mr Walker booking a Best Western Hotel in the city centre in January.

However, despite Harry winning first place in the Limit Dog competition, the family's stay was soured after they were told to leave their hotel on the Friday night - more than an hour and a half after they had already checked in.

Mr Walker, 58, said he and his wife checked in to the hotel at 6.30pm after a day of showing Harry, but after settling down in their room, they received a knock on the door and were told to leave because of their dog.

"It was unbelievable," said Mr Walker.

"My wife is disabled and suffers from severe arthritis plus degenerating bone disease. She has a lot of difficulty to get around, or stay on her feet for any length of time.

"We entered the hotel reception with Harry. Upon arrival he was met by many people.

"Harry was also seen by staff and the reception manager. After going up to our room I came back down to walk Harry, so he was seen several times."

Mr Walker said more than an hour later the couple received a knock at the door and were asked to leave by a manager.

"We were told it was company policy that there are no dogs allowed in the Best Western Hotels," said Mr Walker.

"However, my wife looked this up and we found other hotels that accepted dogs. Even though I had booked the hotel over a month ago, he said staff don't look at bookings - which is ridiculous."

The 58-year-old then said the manager asked them to leave and the couple eventually found another hotel in the Broad Street area of the city, but never received a refund.

However, the hotel claims that as Mr Walker booked the room over Expedia and in the notes section wrote he would be bringing his dog, this was not seen.

Kieran McInerney, director at the Best Western Westley Hotel said: “We apologise for confusion caused for Mr Walker last weekend when he booked to stay at the Best Western Westley Hotel.

"As a hotel we do not accept dogs, and this is clearly publicised on our website, as well as on our partner websites. Unfortunately as this was added as a note on the booking, this was not spotted prior to Mr Walker checking in.

"We are looking into our booking procedures to ensure the notes are checked thoroughly to avoid this type of issue in future."

The Westley Hotel has offered the family a free meal and stay in one of their pet friendly hotels.