Liam Hackett, 27, chief executive of anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label, was turned away when he visited a breast cancer screening clinic in Brighton to support a friend

Men supporting their wives, partners or friends at an NHS breast cancer screening clinic have been banned from the waiting room – sparking outrage from patients.

Instead of being able to comfort women before they have a mammogram, men are being ordered to sit in a corridor.

A sign on the door to the screening clinic in Brighton says: ‘Gentlemen are kindly asked to wait outside.’

The ban has been imposed despite the fact that the waiting area is separate to the changing rooms, which have locks on the doors.

And the scan itself is performed in a different room that is not visible from the waiting area.

But the NHS trust involved said the decision to ban men was taken to ‘protect the privacy and dignity of our women patients’.

Ironically, the rule is in place despite transgender women – those who were born men – being automatically invited to breast-screening appointments under NHS guidelines.

The row came to light after Liam Hackett, 27, chief executive of anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label, was turned away when he visited the clinic to support a friend.

Sue Jones, 55, from Brighton, had discovered a lump in her left breast and made an appointment for a scan at the Park Centre for Breast Care in the city last month.

She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The receptionist kept saying it was their policy not to let men in. I was already anxious before the appointment but this made me really angry too.’

Mr Hackett, who is gay, said he was made to sit on a chair in a corridor outside the clinic ‘like a naughty schoolboy’ (above: mammogram scan)

Ms Jones, who is deputy chief executive at Ditch The Label, added: ‘It’s sexualising breasts when there’s nothing remotely sexual about a mammogram.’

Mr Hackett, who is gay, said he was made to sit on a chair in a corridor outside the clinic ‘like a naughty schoolboy’.

He said: ‘It’s like the staff there perceive all men as perverts. I’m gay anyway – I’m not interested in anyone’s breasts.’ His calls for men to be allowed in was backed by Dr Christian Jessen, star of Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies. He said: ‘Pain and fear are ever-present in healthcare and we should do all we can to help allay them.’

A spokesman for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘To protect the privacy and dignity of our women patients who are not fully dressed, we ask men to wait outside this clinical area for the 20 minutes it takes to complete the mammogram.’