A DISABLED man from Newport has been left angry over the treatment he received at the Kingsway Centre after trying to use their disabled facilities.

Richard Garner, from Newport, has a disability which means he has to use the disabled facilities when out in public places.

During a visit to the Kingsway Shopping Centre on Friday September 1, he was horrified to discover the lock on their disabled toilet was apparently broken when he went to use it.

He claims the lock didn’t work and failed to turn red after the handle appeared to have been damaged.

His day got worse from there, as he was interrupted while using the facilities, and when he reported the incident and the broken lock to the security team at Kingsway, he claims he was shouted at, and his concerns ignored.

Mr Garner says the security guard “got ratty with me” and failed to try and understand his concerns.

He said: “I was in the toilet, and someone came in, even though was it was in use. I said that I had tried to lock the door but couldn’t because it was broken.

“I later reported it to the security guard, but he ripped my head off. There was no need for him to take it out on me like that, just because I’m disabled.

“The way the security guards at Kingsway treat people is disgusting. It’s really wrong how they are treating disabled people. They should have more respect for us as people.”

Mr Garner claims this is not the first time he has had problems with large organisations over how they treat disabled people, but did admit they usually are very receptive to his concerns.

The incident happened last week on Friday, September 1, and Mr Garner said he has already reported the incident to the Kingsway Centre.

A spokesperson for the Kingsway Centre said: "We responded promptly to a customer's concern regarding a percieved locking issue with the disabled toilet in our facilities, accompanying the gentleman to the aforementioned toilet. 

"The toilet locking system was working as should have been and we reassured the customer on this point. As a team, centre management takes customer queries and concerns seriously and responded in a manner that reflected this."