A lesbian couple were told to sleep in separate beds or move on to other accommodation by a bed and breakfast in New Zealand.

Jane Collison and Paula Knights, an engaged couple, lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission after they were singled out by the Pilgrim Planet Lodge in Whangarei.

On arrival on 7 May, the two women were initially told by Lodge owner Karen Ruskin that there were no double beds available. Then, after they said they would take linen for a double bed and push the singles together, they were told a double bed was available but they couldn’t share it.

Ms Collison told the New Zealand Herald: “I got very confused, but started to click about what the issue may be and said, ‘Are we offending your religious beliefs’, and she said ‘Yes and you might have to find accommodation elsewhere’.”

The couple then drove 50 kilometres to Waipu Cove to find alternative accomodation.

“I’m totally happy if people want to be homosexual or whatever, but not in my home,” Karen Ruskin’s husband Michael said.

“We are entitled under current legislation to discriminate on the basis of sex in shared accommodation,” he said. “It’s my own personal integrity to say I don’t want same-sex sex in my house.

“The Government can legislate for same-sex marriage but it can’t legislate that I allow them to have their honeymoon in my home,” he added.

Green MP Kevin Hague responded that the law does not allow for cases of discrimination in commercial accommodation, and said “to find someone still doing it is surprising to me, and will be appalling for this couple”.

On April 17 New Zealand’s parliament approved equal marriage for all regardless of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Lawmakers in attendance sang an off-the-cuff rendition of Pokarekare Ana, a traditional love song considered by some an unofficial National Anthem, after the bill passed.

New Zealand is the 13th country in the world to legalise equal marriage

In October 2012 gay couple Michael Black, 64, and John Morgan, 59, won a court case after they were turned away from a B&B.

The men were prevented from sharing a room together at the Swiss Bed and Breakfast in Cookham, Berkshire.

They began legal proceedings against the owners, Susanne and Mike Wilkinson in January 2011.

In March 2013, Peter and Hazelmary Bull, from Cornwall, claimed they have managed to get round equality laws by changing the status of their guesthouse to a not-for-profit company. They say they can now legally turn away unmarried straight and gay couples.