Town centre shopping mall bans wheelchairs and mobility scooters after fire service brands them a health and safety risk

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Wheelchair users and people on mobility scooters have been left furious after a shopping centre banned them from entering due to health and safety rules.

Security guards have been turning away disabled shoppers from the Grosvenor shopping centre in Macclesfield, Cheshire and escorting them into shops with street entrances to stop them entering the mall through other routes.

The Draconian step is reportedly due to scooters and wheelchairs being labelled as a 'fire hazard' by local authorities.

A 93-year-old pensioner says she was escorted from the premises after she tried to go shopping and see her friends earlier this week.

Nora Leigh said: 'This place is our lives. We come here for shopping, for company. It's hopeless.'

Diane Parton, 51, has staged a protest by the outdoor market, refusing to leave.

She said: 'We are being told by staff that the centre failed a fire safety inspection because in an emergency anyone in a wheelchair or scooter in one of the shopping units cannot get out without having to go up or down stairs.

'I don't know what has changed, but I've been coming here for years without any problem. The disabled and elderly are being discriminated against. It's outrageous.'

One shopper, who asked not to be named, was seen remonstrating with security staff after her grandmother was asked to leave.

She said: 'I'm fuming. She's an 85-year-old woman and she has been told to leave. She's very upset.'

The unpopular measures are said to have been introduced after a safety inspection by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

A sign posted outside the centre said: 'Following instruction from Cheshire Fire Authority, we regret that we are currently unable to allow access to the Grosvenor Centre for disabled or mobility impaired persons.

'We are working with our tenants and the Fire Authority to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.'

Tonight Simon Gibbins, Cheshire's Head of Fire Protection said the move was taken out of concern for the safety of disabled shoppers.

"We have serious concerns that if a fire was to break out in the Macclesfield Grosvenor Shopping Centre some people would simply not be able to get out," he said.

"We have not prohibited people with disabilities from visiting the centre - we simply need the owners to satisfy us they have effective means in place to ensure the safe evacuation of everyone, particularly those with mobility issues.

"Cheshire Fire Authority has a duty to ensure that businesses are not putting the public at risk of fire. We have been in extensive discussions with those responsible for this building since Christmas over our concerns and we will continue to work with them to resolve the matter and ensure that the building is safe for all groups of people going forwards."

Eskmuir Securities, which owns the shopping centre, has yet to comment on the incident.