A 76-year-old grandad claims he was refused entry into a city centre bar for "being too old".
Anthony Severs, from Vauxhall, says he tried to pop in to Irish bar McCooley's in Mathew Street, Liverpool, for a drink and to shelter from the rain at about 10pm on July 25.
However, Anthony said he was turned away by a bouncer, who he claims said he was "too old" to come in.
Anthony told the Liverpool Echo he was left feeling "shell shocked" and had not experienced anything like it in his near-60 years drinking in Liverpool city centre.
McCooley's say there appeared to have been miscommunication on the night and insisted age was not a factor.
Anthony, who has a daughter and grandchildren, said: "I’d just come out of The Grapes - it was raining and I’d been soaked.
"I don’t live far from town and so without the buses (due to the ongoing Arriva strike), I was walking home.
"But because it was raining, I thought I'd go into McCooley's just to dry off and have a drink.
"I got up the stairs to go in, but a bouncer said I couldn’t come in. I asked why and she said I was too old.
"I said ‘that’s discrimination’. She then said nothing. I just walked away, I was shell-shocked."
Anthony, a retired shipbuilder, continued: "How would it make you feel? It was only when I walked away that it hit me. I thought ‘hang on - too old?’.
"I was shocked, I’ve been drinking around town for 60-odd years and nothing like this has ever happened before.
"People might laugh - being told you're too old - it's not on."
Anthony, who said he drinks around the same area where the Irish bar is because he tends to bump into people he knows, spoke to his daughter after the incident.
She told him to get in touch with McCooley's in order to complain.
After doing so, Anthony said he was then told to contact the firm the bar employs to provide security staff.
He explained: "When I got my head together, I went down to McCooley’s and they said it wasn’t down to them, it was down to the security firm.
"I said that I wanted a personal apology, because she kept me out personally."
Readers were shocked and upset after reading Anthony's story, with one man calling the security worker's actions "a disgrace".
Bobby.B said: "This is a disgrace, it is discrimination. This Bar should be boycotted by everyone in Liverpool. Until the man receives an apology and deserved compensation."
Nora Wenton said: "How dare they, Tony has been drinking in town longer than they’ve been alive."
Ronald Johnson said: "A boycott seems an appropriate punishment for this calculated shocking and demeaning behaviour."
Susan Elizabeth said: "What happened to respect your elders? Anthony mate I’ll take you for a pint, I hope you get all the beer you deserve."
A spokesperson for McCooley's has since told The Mirror there appeared to have been miscommunication on the night and insisted age was not a factor.
“Most of our customers, especially midweek are older. He's certainly allowed back at anytime. The security person who he wanted the personal apology from no longer works here unfortunately, but he has received an apology from the head of the door firm responsible for employing her in person. If he wants to come back we'll certainly make sure he's looked after.”
