A hairdresser was left fuming after he was refused entry to a Manchester pub because he was dressed in a minidress and heels.

Adam Murphy, 24, was turned away by a Slug and Lettuce bouncer on Deansgate with friend Thomas Robinson after the pair attended an open audition for Big Brother.

Mr Murphy was wearing a silver sequin minidress and black thigh high stiletto boots and Mr Robinson wore matching silver trousers.

Hairdresser Adam Murphy, 24, (right) was refused entry to a Slug and Lettuce on Deansgate, Manchester, with friend Thomas Robinson (left), because he was wearing a dress

The doorman told the shocked hairdresser that it wasn't the pub's policy to allow 'men in dresses' in, according to Mr Murphy.

He said: 'It was about 7pm on Saturday night, and 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.

Mr Murphy said the pub bouncer told him it wasn't pub policy to allow 'men in dresses' in. The hairdresser was wearing a silver sequin dress with black leather thigh high stiletto boots

'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.'

Mr Murphy and Mr Robinson had auditioned for the new series of Channel Five reality show in the city centre earlier in the day, so had made a particular effort to look glamorous.

The hairdresser 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 says he always likes to mix both masculine and feminine fashions - and proudly wears high heels to work every day.

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

Mr Murphy attended an open audition for Channel Five reality show Big Brother earlier in the city centre and had made a particular effort to look glamorous

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

Mr Murphy rang the pub's management to complain on the night.

The manager emailed to apologise, and offered him a bottle of prosecco on his next visit back to the pub.

He said: 'I don't particularly want to go back there now after the way they made me feel.'

The hairdresser said he wears high heels to work every day and likes to 'switch the masculine and feminine looks up'

The Slug and Lettuce said they had apologised to Adam, and that the doorman in question 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.'