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A male hairdresser says he was refused entry at a pub when he showed up wearing a glitzy silver sequin minidress and black thigh-high stiletto boots.

Adam Murphy claimed a bouncer at a Slug and Lettuce pub wouldn't let him enter with his friends because its policy doesn't allow "men wearing dresses" inside.

The 24-year-old was with friend Thomas Robinson, who was wearing matching silver trousers, and said he was left embarrassed and feeling "horrible" for being singled out over his outfit.

He told the Manchester Evening News he asked to speak to a manager, but was told that she was busy, so he and Thomas moved on to a different pub where staff had no problem with his sparkly dress and boots.

A spokeswoman for the pub chain said the doorman is no longer employed and the company doesn't have such a policy.

Adam said he and Thomas tried to enter the Slug and Lettuce pub on Deansgate, in Manchester, at about 7pm last Saturday.

He added: "The doorman stopped me and my friend and said 'you’re not coming in in that dress'.

"I was like, 'are you being serious?' He said yes and when I asked why, he told me that it was policy that men cannot come into the pub in a dress.

"I asked to speak to a manager, but he said that she was busy. I was embarrassed and it made me feel horrible. You don’t expect anything like this to happen in Manchester."

Earlier that day Adam and Thomas had attended open auditions for the new series of Channel Five reality show Big Brother in the city centre, so they had made a particular effort to look glamorous.

Adam said: “When it was clear he wasn’t going to let us in at the Slug and Lettuce, we left there and went just along Deansgate to The Living Room, where they were fine with what I was wearing.

“I wasn’t dressed like a tramp, I wasn’t that extreme, and I wasn’t in a joke outfit - on a weekend and nights out in Manchester this is how I would normally dress.”

Adam works as a hairdresser in the city centre and says he always likes to mix both masculine and feminine fashions - and proudly wears high heels to work every day.

He said: “How can you talk about equal rights when a woman wearing this type of outfit is let into a pub but not me?

“In fact there were girls being let into the pub wearing a lot less clothing than I was.”

Adam rang the pub’s management to complain on the night - and says the manager did eventually reply by email to apologise, and offer him a bottle of prosecco on his next visit back to the pub.

Adam said: “I don’t particularly want to go back there now after the way they made me feel.”

A spokeswoman for Slug and Lettuce confirmed the company had apologised to Adam, and that the doorman is “no longer employed at the venue”.

They also confirmed it is not company policy to bar men wearing dresses at their pubs.

A spokeswoman said: “The management team were not aware of Mr Murphy’s entry refusal until after the event.

"This does not reflect our company policy and the doorman in question is no longer employed at the venue. We have apologised personally for any offence caused.”

The Slug and Lettuce chain, which has 70 pubs across the UK, boasts on its website of offering a “comfy, safe, welcoming environment” to all customers.

Adam admits the way he likes to dress does attract attention, but he is proud of his individual style.

He said: “I like to switch the masculine and feminine looks up, and I do get a lot of homophobic comments thrown my way but I’m not going to let that get in the way of how I want to live my life.”