Hollie Brooks says she had to sit among boxes and trolleys on Greater Anglia service

A train passenger in a wheelchair was forced to sit in the middle of a full buffet service, surrounded by rattling trolleys and boxes of drinks and snacks, after the disabled area was used as a makeshift onboard shop.

Hollie Brooks, 29, was told by train staff that because the normal buffet bar was out of order, the train’s second wheelchair space – next to hers – would be used to serve food and drink.

“When that happens, he told me, they have to use that disabled space, so he used that space to serve drinks and everything else – the whole shebang,” she said. “There was people queuing up, waiting to get their food. So if I needed to go to the bathroom I was totally blocked.”

Brooks is furious with the train company, Greater Anglia, after she complained about her treatment on Twitter, and it issued a statement saying the company was “sorry you were upset”.

“So they are not sorry about it,” she said.

Hollie Brooks (@HollieAnneB) The reality of being a wheelchair user on a @greateranglia train. They’re using my wheelchair space as a kitchen. Amazing service from the platform staff but apparently staff are told to use wheelchair space for catering for first class if coach H is out of order. pic.twitter.com/vHobSdMhJM

Brooks had been returning home with her boyfriend after attending a gig and spending the night in Norwich. Although they live in Wivenhoe, Essex, the lack of wheelchair access at their local station meant they were forced to travel via Colchester.

She said: “The station staff [at Norwich] were great. They had everything ready but she said to me that they’re storing trolleys in the disabled space but I’ve told them to move it.”

When her boyfriend took their bags on the train before helping her on board, he found her area taken up, she said.

“In the space that we had reserved, that we had prebooked well in advance, there were two buffet trolleys there, there were boxes piled up everywhere.”

There was not enough space for Brooks’s boyfriend to sit with her and help her during the journey, she said. When they arrived at Colchester and wanted to disembark, he was forced to move boxes out of the way.

Brooks has been in a wheelchair since June, when she was diagnosed with meningitis and sepsis. But she said it was not the first time she had faced problems with public transport, and feels unable to travel without a companion.

Brooks, a former audience development manager, is trying to pursue a career as a freelance journalist, but fears problems with public transport will hamper her. “It means that I’m missing out on job opportunities, because I don’t trust them to get me there and back,” she said.

Hollie Brooks (@HollieAnneB) I forgot I filmed this yesterday too. The impact @greateranglia are having on my mental health is huge. pic.twitter.com/GMj4YSbdbE

A spokeswoman for Greater Anglia disputed Brooks’s claim to have reserved a seat, saying the company’s records showed she had only booked platform assistance, which was given.

A spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear Hollie was disappointed with her journey yesterday.

“Hollie had booked assisted travel at Norwich station and staff helped her on and off the train. She had a disabled seat in first class. Several members of staff checked that she had enough room and was comfortable.

“This train had a static trolley service instead of a cafe bar. The static trolley was located across the aisle from Hollie’s seat, in an unused disabled seat. Had this area been needed during the journey, our staff would have moved the trolleys.”