The group of mothers outside Brewers Fayre where they said they were asked to move (Picture: Ross Parry)

A group of mothers who regularly meet for lunch during maternity leave say they’ve been moved to the back of a pub so that men can read their paper in peace.

They said they felt ‘shocked and humiliated’ after a member of staff moved them at the Butterly Park Brewers Fayre in Ripley, Derbyshire.

They’d been visiting for weeks, before being told that other customers had complained about them bringing their babies along.

One of them has now written an angry letter to Whitbread, the company which owns the restaurant, demanding they look in to the behaviour and attitude of their employees.


Marie Barron, 35, from Ilkeston, said: ‘We are not loud, hooligan types. We were not there to get drunk.



‘We are working mothers, on maternity leave with seven month old babies.

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‘We were told that there are men who come in and read the paper and don’t want to be disturbed by women and babies and it was better if we were out of the way.

‘We chose to meet there as our babies are not of an age where we can let them play amongst toddlers and, seeing as we don’t get dinner dates as frequently as we used to pre-children, it’s nice to eat a hot meal in good company.

Brewers Fayre have said they will look into the allegations (Picture: Google Street View)

‘However, the treatment we received was unacceptable and left us feeling extremely embarrassed as well as discriminated against and ruined what is otherwise a perfectly lovely place to dine with friends and family.’

A spokesman for Brewers Fayre said: ‘Brewers Fayre is a family restaurant that welcomes breastfeeding mothers, parents and carers with young children to enjoy all of our facilities, including the play areas.

‘We would like to reassure guests that we regularly train our team members to ensure they put guest needs first and foremost.

‘We are disappointed this claim has been made and are investigating as a priority.’

The company have also contacted the group to say an investigation has been carried out and that they are confident they have learned from the experience.

They ask the women to accept their apologies, thank them for bringing the issue to their attention and offer them a £10 voucher.