(Image: Disability Action Yorkshire)
A CHARITY that supports disabled people has hit out after a wheelchair user could not enter a popular North Yorkshire food and coffee shop.
Disability Action Yorkshire is calling on national retailer Pret A Manger to audit its physical access equipment and rollout mandatory training after one of the charity trustees could not enter a branch in James Street, Harrogate.
The charity's trustee and wheelchair user Andrew Simister visited the Pret A Manger branch twice last month (July 2 and July 27) and on each visit found the assistance bell out of order.
According to the charity, on the second visit, a member of staff said the access ramp had been broken for at least three months and offered to carry Andrew and his wheelchair into the shop, which the trustee described as "patronising, unsafe and completely unacceptable".
The charity said it contacted the retailer's head office on Tuesday, July 28 and had not received a response by 5pm on Monday, August 3.
A spokesperson for Pret A Manger said it was very sorry about the experience Mr Simister had faced, it was not acceptable that sufficient measures were not in place, and the assistance doorbell and access ramp were now fully operational.
'I do not want to be carried into a store like cargo'
A spokesperson for Disability Action Yorkshire said: "This institutional failure comes despite explicit promises made by Pret A Manger before it opened its doors in Harrogate in 2022.
"Ahead of the opening, Robert Kernaghan - now chair of the board of trustees at Disability Action Yorkshire - formally contacted Pret A Manger's head office requesting assurances on accessibility provisions.
"Despite written assurances that standards would be maintained, ongoing feedback from local disabled people reveals a pattern of unusable equipment and physical exclusion."
Mr Simister said: "Being offered a physical lift into a coffee shop is patronising, unsafe and completely unacceptable.
"I do not want to be carried into a store like cargo, I want to enter independently and with dignity, just like every other customer.
"Pret A Manger has left its staff without the right tools or training to ensure the store is accessible and inclusive to all.
"The result is that disabled customers are effectively locked outside."
Jackie Snape, chief executive of Disability Action Yorkshire said: "This is a textbook systemic failure by Pret A Manger.
"Installing an access ramp or a call bell for corporate compliance means nothing if that equipment is left broken for months on end.
"Offering to physically lift a wheelchair user exposes a total vacuum of staff training and organisational oversight.
"Under the Equality Act 2010, businesses have a clear legal duty to maintain reasonable adjustments.
"Pret Head Office must fix their infrastructure, retrain their teams and stop treating basic access as an optional extra."
A Pret A Manger spokesperson said: "We’re very sorry about the experience Mr Simister had in our shop.
"It is not acceptable that sufficient measures weren’t in place.
"We have since investigated this with team members and reinforced with colleagues our expectations on customer service and accessibility.
"The assistance doorbell and access ramp are now fully operational.”