NANDO'S in Wokingham has been praised for its change in attitude after a family were previously refused entry for having an assistance dog.

Debora Wiggs, her son and her fiancé who are both autistic, were not allowed in to the chain’s Wokingham branch when an assistant manager refused to allow their assistant dog inside.

The family said they were told no dogs, including working labradoodle dog Camo, would be allowed in the restaurant for hygiene reasons.

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Staff at charity Pawsable said although the company is legally within its rights to refuse all kinds of service dogs, it is incredibly rare for any company to do so, and it can make the lives of those depending on the working dogs extremely difficult.

Also, under the Equality Act 2010, people with disabilities are to have the same right to services supplied by shops, banks, hotels, libraries, pubs, taxis and restaurants as everyone else.

Once Debora and her family had been denied entry, she said her son became so distraught that he ran back to the car 'hungry and in tears', while her husband was getting increasingly 'frustrated' and Deborah had to calm him down as well.

Reacting to this, Debora called the assistant dog-training organisation Pawsable, which explained to owners that the dog is extremely unlikely to cause any problems for the company - however it was still no use.

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Speaking to The Wokingham Paper, she said: "At this point, my son Harley ran out of the restaurant crying, and the assistant manager stepped up near me and told me to ‘leave now’.

“My autistic, profoundly deaf fiancé came straight to my side and got angry. I managed to calm him down and we left the restaurant suitably humiliated, demeaned and hungry."

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The family said they were surprised as they have often been to in-house training sessions at the Basingstoke Nando's branch, and never had an issue.

Ms Wiggs, a qualified nurse and sign language communicator, added: "I know the average person would just get over this, however, it will weeks for them to deal with this and will affect their confidence wherever they go."

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Since the incident, Debora has said that the popular restaurant “has been fab” to her and her family, completely changing direction with its approach to assistance dogs.

Once bosses at Nando's had heard of the family’s experience, it issued a formal apology to them, offered vouchers, and has retrained staff in the branch within the space of one week.

Debora has since admitted that she intends to return to the restaurant sometime in the future, and how she noticed other restaurants across Reading have taken note also. Ms Wiggs noted how Ask Italian! in Reading have since been made aware of the family’s problems and 'were amazing' , even providing the dog with its own water bowl.