Gig disappointment
Actress turned away because of wheelchair
A DISABLED actress was left furious after splashing out more than £200 to see one of her favourite singers only to be turned away due to her wheelchair.
Music fan Hannah MoncurHarper, 17, had travelled with pal Abby Robbie, 18, to see Yungblud perform at Newcastle’s O2 Academy on Tuesday.
Hannah was overjoyed after securing last-minute tickets for the sell-out gig on Ticketmaster.
But she was left gobsmacked when she was refused entry by security at the venue.
Hannah, best known for her role as Chloe Reeves in CBBC’s The Dumping Ground, said: “I didn’t even think this would happen, it was the last of my worries.
“When I turned up, security asked if I’d phoned and I’d said we couldn’t get in touch.
“He spoke to a manager, who said, ‘We can only have three wheelchairs in the venue for health and safety reasons and they don’t want to risk losing their licence’.”
Hannah explained they had travelled from Dundee and spent hundreds on the tickets, travel and a hotel for the night. But they were turned down. And the teen was left furious after being told by security the manager had said: “If you could walk, then we would be able to let you in but we don’t have space for another wheelchair.”
Hannah, who has a spinal cord injury that happened when she was just months old, continued: “I was genuinely really shocked by it all.”
In a last-ditch attempt to seek assistance, the teens took to social media to call on Yungblud to help.
After tweeting him, Hannah penned a sign to hold up when he came out the venue after his gig. She said: “He saw our sign and got us some signed set lists, and it was lovely but we’d spent well over £200 for the trip and it didn’t really make up for it.”
A spokesperson for the 02 Academy Newcastle said: “We are aware of this unfortunate and regrettable incident and have begun a thorough internal inquiry.”