A woman wearing a Union Jack dress was turned away from a Wetherspoons so as ‘not to increase tensions’ after an anti-migrant protest in the area.
Tanya Ostolski, 54, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, says she was knocked back from The Picture House last night, despite being a regular in the pub.
Dozens of protestors had gathered in the town centre from around 4.30pm after Reform MP Lee Anderson went against police advice to make an unverified claim that a local man charged with rape was an asylum seeker.
It followed similar anti-migrant demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, near Essex, and the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf in central London, in recent weeks.
Last night’s protests in Sutton-in-Ashfield had ended at around 7pm when protestors made their way back to the where the gathering began, around 50 metres from the pub.
Many of those who took to the streets were waving Union flags or were wrapped in the St George’s Cross flag and had sought to get into the pub after the demonstrations were over.
But clashes with bouncers outside the pub quickly ensued when they were denied access due to a ‘no-flag’ policy deployed by Wetherspoons in their establishments.
Ms Ostolski says she was holding a St George’s Cross flag when she was first refused entry by bouncers on the door, before putting it in her bag in the hope that would allow her access.
Tanya Ostolski says she was knocked back from The Picture House in Sutton-in-Ashfield last night, despite being a regular in the pub
But the 54-year-old said she was ‘absolutely disgusted’ when she was told by those on the doors that she still wasn’t allowed in because of her dress.
She said: ‘I go in there all the time and they refused entry. They didn’t let me in with my flag, the flag is the English flag, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to have an English flag?
‘It’s our flag, it’s our nation’s flag. I wasn’t being aggressive or anything I didn’t get lairy or anything. I put the flag back in my bag, and they said I can’t come in because of my dress.
‘They kept refusing me. I’m probably going to get barred now. They just said Tanya, you’re not coming in. I feel absolutely disgusted, why should I be refused entry for wearing a dress or a flag?’
The spokesman for Wetherspoons, Eddie Gershon, said the decision was made to ensure calm in the area and ‘as a matter of common sense’.
He said: ‘Pub managers have a duty under the licensing laws, and as a matter of common sense, to judge every situation on its particular circumstances.
The protests in had ended at around 7pm when protestors made their way back to the where the gathering began, around 50 metres from the pub (pictured)
‘In this case, the pub manager felt that it was important not to increase tensions. Therefore, on this occasion the manager asked customers not to enter with flags or any placards.’
Ms Ostolski’s knockback comes just days after a schoolgirl was put into isolation for wearing a similar Union Jack dress to celebrate being British at her school’s culture day.
‘Straight A’ student Courtney Wright, 12, wore a Spice Girls-esque dress and wrote a speech about history and traditions as part of the celebrations on July 11.
But the Year 7 pupil was told the dress was ‘unacceptable’ before being hauled out of lessons and made to sit in reception until her father collected her.
Downing Street would go on to condemn that decision, with a spokesperson for the Prime Minister saying: ‘The PM has always been clear that being British is something to be celebrated.
‘You can see that from everything this government has done. We are a tolerant, diverse, open country, proud of being British.’
Another protest outside an asylum hotel in Leeds erupted today where demonstrators shouted ‘back in your rubber dinghies’ to those inside.
Police were out in force as crowds waving Union flags and banging instruments converged on the Britannia Hotel in the Seacroft area of the city.
Officers formed a defensive cordon around the building, which was targeted during last summer’s riots.
Police were out in force as crowds waving Union flags and banging instruments converged on the Britannia Hotel in the Seacroft area of the city
Officers formed a defensive cordon around the building, which was targeted during last summer’s riots
Today, protesters – some of them masked – were seen shouting ‘get them out, get them out’ in the faces of police, who refused to let them through.
One man screamed ‘back in your rubber dinghies’, while another said: ‘Not only have they got a free hotel they have extra bobbies looking after them’.
There were also screams of ‘paedo’ by protesters who accused one migrant of taking pictures of a young girl at the nearby Tesco.
Residents were instructed to remain inside the hotel during the protest, which saw at least one man arrested – according to a livestream video.
Footage of the demonstration ended with the organisers thanking people for coming, with one speaker saying: ‘You have done yourselves proud.’
