Two mums were stopped from joining in a walking tour of Manchester Town Hall because they had babies with them.

Lydia Grellier and Helen Ianson booked to attend the tour with New Manchester Walks on Monday.

But they say when they arrived, tour guide Ed Glinert made it clear they 'weren't welcome' - telling them the tour 'doesn't work with babies'.

Glinert said people 'may coo the babies' and compared it with 'bringing a dog' on the tour, which was taking 20 people around Manchester Town Hall.

Lydia shared her dismay over the tour guide's attitude in a post on Instagram and complained about their treatment on the group's facebook page.

In the post, which includes a photo of her disappointed friend Helen standing with their babies, aged eight months and nine months in their pushchairs, she said: "The tour we weren't allowed to join because we dared to bring our children. New Manchester Walks guide Ed was incredulous that we would even consider doing so.

"Publicly humiliated in front of the whole tour and told that we had wasted two spaces on the tour (which we had paid for!). One of the reasons given as to why we couldn't join is because people may coo the babies. He likened trying to bring a child like bringing a dog with you.

"Discrimination at its finest. Are we doomed to a life of nothing more intellectual than soft-play?"

After being contacted by the M.E.N's Manchester Family , Lydia, from Altrincham, said the experience was 'horrific' and says she has yet to be refunded the £18 for the tour tickets.

She said: "It said nowhere on his website that it wasn't suitable and he admitted that it wasn't due to access.

"Even so, I think if he honestly believed that the tour wasn't suitable for babies and had greeted us with a smile before pulling us to one side and pleasantly explaining that should they become noisy would we mind dealing with it etc, I wouldn't have minded. It was his public vitriol towards us, in front of the entire tour, which was so disappointing.

"Of course I stood my ground and challenged his attitude to which he has since used patronising language such as 'you got rather worked up' which I find insulting - I'm not sure he would use language like that to describe a male who was defending himself in a similar situation."

Responding to Lydia's complaint on the New Manchester Walks Facebook page, Ed said: "Absolute nonsense. I simply told you that the tour doesn't work with babies or children because they make a noise and talk while the guide is talking.

"I realised you didn't like to be contradicted but it was you that got aggressive. I told you very nicely that it wasn't suitable for children.

"I offered you two free alternative tours but it was you got that stroppy. I have to think of all my customers. Why would anyone bring a baby on such a tour or not phone to check?"

Speaking to the M.E.N, he said: "If a child starts crying it could be a problem, with two children it makes double trouble.

"I was amazed that anybody would want to bring a baby on this tour. Would you take a baby to see Manchester United? There's nothing stopping you but it could cause a problem.

"It's like when people take children in pubs, it spoils it for everybody else."

Ed said there was no access problem for prams on the tour, but the issues lie elsewhere.

He said: "If people bring babies after five minutes they start crying and the mother has to sort them out. Also the group then takes no notice of the guide because they're only interested in the baby.

"It's like if someone brings a dog, all the people on the tour start smooching around the dog and they're not interested in the tour. People think 'oh it's a baby' like they've never seen a baby before. They start cooing the baby and it makes my job extremely difficult.

"Everybody is welcome but I'd rather people didn't bring babies on this tour."

Have you ever been turned away from an event because you had a child with you? What do you think of the guide's attitude towards the mums?

Let us know in the comments or share your views on our Manchester Family facebook page.