Café owner hits back after dad claims 'disabled daughter, 3, was kicked out for being too noisy'

A three-year-old girl with learning difficulties was asked to leave a café for making too much noise, her parents have claimed.

Adam Hardy and his wife Caroline alleged that the owner said she "didn't care" that their daughter had learning difficulties.

But the 'family-friendly' eatery has since hit back at the parent's claims, saying it is "horrified" by the allegations.

In a viral Facebook post, Adam described his view of what happened during the family's visit to the Blue Water Café in Hull.

He said: “Horrified to be asked to leave the café by obnoxious owner and our three-year-old with special needs was jabbering too loud.”

His Facebook post has since had more than 1,000 shares with members of the public having their say on what happened.

The dad-of-three has since told the Hull Daily Mail : “I went to order and everything was normal and the two young staff were nice and friendly.

"I went back to the table and our daughter, who is three, was jabbering a little and our six-year-old son was asking me what he was going to have to eat.

“The server, who I believe to be the owner, served someone on another table and our daughter let out a high pitched noise for about two seconds, as she thought the food was coming to us.

"She has a developmental delay and requires additional help.

“We didn't get chance to try and settle her as the lady instantly then came to our table to ask us to control our daughter. We were both a bit shocked so my wife asked her again what she had said.

"Being a bit dumbstruck at this, I tried explaining that our daughter had special needs and the lady said, ‘I don't care’.”

However, Pat Brook, who has co-owned Blue Water Café for almost three years, says she was not told the child had special needs, and never asked the family to leave.

She says she has been left "saddened" by the accusations and wants people to know the café is family-friendly.

She said: “A number of customers had complained to us about the noise and we, in the gentlest possible way, attempted to ask the parents if all three children could be just a little quieter.

“This clearly caused significant offence as the last comment before the family left, entirely of their own accord, was ‘I will ruin you’.

“I made a gesture, mum-to-mum, to let them know the children were being a bit too loud, and I was about to get them some crayons before they decided to leave.

“They wouldn’t let me talk and at no point did they tell me one of their children had special needs, and it was all of the children who were making a noise.

“Within seconds the situation just blew up and I was mortified. My staff were shaking because they had never experienced anything like it.”

According to Mr Hardy, his children became upset and he had to explain to them why they were leaving.

He said: “My wife tried to explain to our six-year-old why his sister’s ‘behaviour’ meant we were not welcome.

“I was amazed we kept our cool as we are good parents. My wife is a teacher, I used to be, and the children go to cafés and know how to behave.

“Maybe we caught them on a bad day but our kids were well behaved.”