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A man has slammed a Gloucester restaurant for informing him of its dress code after he visited wearing a bright orange basketball top.

Paul Bruton, 29, thinks his Los Angeles Lakers jersey and shorts qualify as ‘smart casual’ – and he is furious after they drew comment during a trip yesterday to Miller and Carter in Olympus Park, Quedgeley.

He claims the steakhouse’s duty manager told him: “We do have a dress code of smart casual but we are not busy so we will serve you.”

Mr Bruton, of Juniper Way in Stonehouse, later wrote to the restaurant: “I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. That surely counts as casual.

(Image: Mikal Ludlow Photography)

“And my clothes were not dirty, ripped or covered in crap, so surely I met the smart bit too.

“So I can only think it was a personal remark against me for my tattoos showing.”

He added: “If I had gone in there wearing a skirt or a dress they couldn’t have said anything. This is 2018.”

How the visit unfolded

The dad-of-two went to Miller and Carter with his fiancée Lucy at 2pm yesterday.

He said: “It is quite expensive but I thought I would treat the missus to something nice.

(Image: Mikal Ludlow Photography)

“To be honest the only reason I went was because my bank had a 10 per cent cashback special there.”

Mr Bruton said it was his second visit to the steakhouse, having been around a month earlier.

He added: “My fiancée was wearing jeans and a hoodie. We wore exactly the same clothes as last time, when no one told us anything about a dress code.

“We walked in and the duty manager looked us up and down.

“When she told us about the dress code, she looked at me like I was not posh enough to eat there.

“It was like her eyes were saying, ‘This is the Ritz and you should be going Premier Inn.’ It made me feel so small.”

(Image: Mikal Ludlow Photography)

Mr Bruton claims the other customers were wearing similar clothes to him.

He said: “The only difference is my arms are covered in tattoos. But there is nothing rude on them.”

'I want to go now'

Mr Bruton’s arms bear tattoos of a Koi fish, rose, pirate ship, lion and the words ‘made in England’, as well as his daughters’ names, Sophie and Maisie.

“It made me feel like they thought I was obviously scum because I had tattoos,” he said.

“I have diabetes and my blood sugars were dropping. I couldn’t say ‘stick it up your a***’ and go somewhere else, because I needed sugar urgently.

“I sat down and said to Lucy, ‘I want to go now.’ But I had a lemonade to get my sugars up.”

After getting a lemonade, Mr Bruton waited around 20 minutes before ordering food.

(Image: Mikal Ludlow Photography)

He said: “By this time the waitress had been over three times. She was getting agitated.

“I was saying ‘not yet’. I said to her, ‘I don’t think we will be staying.’

“I didn’t tell her why. When I start kicking off I embarrass Lucy so I tried to keep it all on the down-low.

“In the end Lucy told me to order something. I’m meant to have a substance as well as the sugar from the drink anyway, so I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu.”

Mr Bruton plumped for the rump steak with salad leaves and onion bread, while Lucy decided on a beef burger.

“Altogether it cost £40,” he continued. “It’s nice food, but Christ alive it is expensive.

“The waitress was rude. Each time she came back she got more and more rude.

“She gave off the air we weren’t her class of people. It’s funny because, to me, it just looks like your average pub inside.”

'It's the way they made me feel'

As the couple left Miller and Carter, the duty manager said: “Thank you for coming.”

Mr Bruton told Gloucestershire Live: “I totally ignored her.

“Lucy being Lucy, she said ‘thank you’ back. I would have preferred an apology or a refund, or some voucher.

“I won’t be going back. It’s the way they made me feel.

“Last time I visited, I gave them a five-star rating on TripAdvisor. This time I gave them one star on Google Reviews.”

Tattoo troubles

Mr Bruton says he has experienced discrimination because of his tattoos in the past.

While working as a security guard at Boots in Cheltenham High Street in 2008, customers complained they could see his chest tattoos through his shirt.

“They said there was a naked lady tattoo on me, but I don’t have one of those,” Mr Bruton said.

“It is a samurai and a native American on my chest. It was my job, so what choice did I have but to wear an extra shirt?

“Christ alive it was so hot chasing down someone who had nicked something. I had to take in three different shirts because I would sweat so much.”

Miller and Carter has apologised to Mr Bruton.

A spokesman said: “We do have a smart casual dress code in place at our steakhouse which includes no sleeveless T-shirts.

“However the manager did let the guest dine at the restaurant regardless of this.

“We politely reminded the guest of the dress code for the next time they visit. We’re sorry if any offence was caused.”

Who do you think is in the right? Let us know in the comments below.