Model with no bowel denied toilet access in Manchester Published duration 15 January 2018

image copyright BlakeBeckford image caption Manchester Central Convention Centre apologised to model Blake Beckford who has ulcerative colitis

A model was left "humiliated" when his ileostomy bag leaked and staff at a conference centre refused to let him use the toilet.

Blake Beckford, 36, of Warwickshire, has ulcerative colitis and has a stoma bag outside his body.

When his bag started to leak he sought help at Manchester Central convention centre but staff refused to let him use the toilet.

Manchester Central has subsequently apologised to Mr Beckford.

image copyright Blake Beckford

In a post shared on Facebook more than 300 times, the father-of-three said he was on his way back to his car on 10 January when his ileostomy bag "decided to fill up and I started to spring a small leak."

In the post, he continued: "I darted into Manchester Central Exhibition Centre and asked the receptionist please can I use your toilet... her response [was] we don't allow the public to use our toilets. I explained I have a stoma and I need to change it urgently and still she said no.

"I'm appalled that you turned me away forcing me to panic in a place I am not familiar with to find the nearest toilet."

The model and bodybuilder uses a stoma bag after his bowel was removed.

He said he could have been "left humiliated in the street" had his bag fully leaked.

Addressing the conference centre, he added: "I think it's disgusting that you refused me..."

A spokesman for Manchester Central said: "We were extremely disappointed to hear about Mr Beckford's experience and apologised to him as soon as we became aware of what had happened."

An ostomy is an artificial opening on the abdominal wall through which waste material passes out of the body from the bowel or urinary tract.

A colostomy is a surgically created opening from the colon. An ileostomy involves the last portion of the small intestine.