London's Savoy Hotel has been rebuked for demanding £1,000 to install a temporary 20ft ramp for a wheelchair-bound athlete who was star guest at an awards ceremony last week.
Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has won 11 gold medals in the para-Olympics, was chairwoman of the judges at the Romantic Novel of the Year ceremony. The organisers eventually managed to negotiate the fee down to £200.
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, has written to the hotel expressing his "surprise and disappointment" at the poor customer service.
Catherine Jones, vice-chairwoman of the Romantic Novelists' Association, said the charge was "shabby and out of order". She claimed the hotel had damaged its reputation.
The hotel argued that the top table at the function was "not a public place" and therefore it was under no obligation to provide access.
The Observer 06/05/07 page 19
