Mum devastated after being banned from Greggs store along with autistic son

A stunned mum said she was left "shocked" after being told she was barred from visiting Greggs with her autistic son.

Zoe Glover, 23, regularly takes her four-year-old son Ruben to the sausage roll retailer to pick up a slice of pizza and some doughnuts. The youngster, who is non-verbal, benefits from routine visits to the Chester shop because familiar patterns help him stay calm and settled.

But in an upsetting incident, full-time mum Zoe said staff told the pair they were no longer welcome at the store "because of her son's behaviour" on a previous visit. She said the ban amounted to "disability discrimination" as she alleged that staff even "swore at her to leave".

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Zoe said: "We went in on Friday - the only thing he eats is a pizza and doughnuts and even that is just the icing. But the cashier told me that I was barred. He told me that the manager said I wasn't allowed to be served because of the 'way your little boy was the other day'.

"I asked them to clarify and explained that he is non-verbal autistic and can't sit down for long periods, he's always clapping his hands and jumping. It's hard to get him to sit down for five minutes, so I questioned why.

"But all they said was that I wasn't allowed to be served - and they gave me a takeaway 'just this once'. The manager wasn't there, but I told them it was discrimination to bar a little boy because they said we made a mess.

"Never in my life did I think my four-year-old would be barred from a Greggs store. I am devastated for me and Ruben, because not everyone understands him."

Zoe said she hopes the staff at the store in the retail park will be re-trained in disability access. She added: "It's heart-breaking, he couldn't understand what was happening and then there was a meltdown trying to get him out too and everyone was looking at me.

"I felt uncomfortable for that - this has added to the stress of my everyday life."

Zoe said she was later offered a £15 Greggs voucher as an apology, but felt it did not come close to making up for the way she was treated. She added that she was told she would receive an update on an investigation into the incident by Saturday.

The mum-of-two said: "I always try my best to clean up and pick up anything we've left behind, but there might be the odd crisp wrapper or something."

Zoe said the ordeal has left her feeling anxious about taking Ruben to other shops or restaurants, as she now fears they could face the same kind of treatment again.

A spokesperson for Greggs: "This is not company policy and is something that we are taking very seriously.We have apologised to the customer and are investigating with our shop teams how this incident occurred and how to avoid it happening again."