A BLIND pensioner is furious after his guide dog was refused entry to a cafe for being too smelly.

Arthur Holman, 73, and his wife Sylvia, 72, planned to have lunch at the Rose Cafe in, Northlands Pavements, Pitsea, because their kitchen cooker was out of action.

But the restaurant manager banned Arthur from taking his guide dog Hamish – a golden retriever – inside.

Arthur, who has been almost completely blind in both eyes since 2004, said: “I tried to explain to him Hamish was for my sight, but he didn’t want to know.

“It was embarrassing and humiliating to be turfed out.”

The manager told Arthur the dog’s smell would put off other customers.

But Arthur, of Steeple Hall, Pitsea, said Hamish would not have been a problem.

He said: “He doesn’t smell any more than any other dog. I should know because I groom him every day.”

“Hamish is extremely well behaved. He is taught to sit quietly under the table, so it’s not like he would be wandering around sniffing people’s food.”

After arguing with the owner the couple gave up and went to eat in KFC instead.

But manager of the Rose Cafe, Hussein Ksear, stood by his decision.

He said: “The dog had a bad smell and we were quite busy. I said he could leave the dog outside but he didn’t want to do that.”

According to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, it is against the law for a blind person and their guide dog to be refused entry to a restaurant.

George plans to report the Rose Cafe to the Commission for Equality and Human Rights who will contact the managers and remind them of their responsibility. If any establishment repeatedly flouts the law, they can be prosecuted.

This is not the first time it has happened to Arthur. He was also barred from taking Hamish into George’s Cafe, in Station Lane, Pitsea, four years ago.

He said: “It is not just for me, there are other blind people in Basildon.

“We shouldn’t be treated like this. We have enough trouble as it is.”