Wheelchair bar row not uncommon, Coronation Street star says

Disabled people still face "daily "discrimination, a Coronation Street star has said after a wheelchair user was forced to leave a Manchester nightclub. Club Tropicana told 18-year-old Maddie Haining she had to leave because she was a fire risk, an experience the student described as "infuriating". Cherylee Houston, who has played Izzy Armstrong on the soap since 2010 and is a disability rights campaigner, said Maddie's experience was "shocking and outrageous" but not uncommon. She told BBC Radio Manchester: "It's daily, and I think people don't realise because it's not often spoken about unless it's an extreme case." Houston, who uses a wheelchair after being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, said the incident pointed to a wider and "fundamental" issue where many disabled people were not made to feel welcome or accommodated at venues, some of which still did not have the right policies in place. She said many disabled people had to think about whether they could get into a bar, shop or restaurant and "many of us just silently don't come back to a business after an experience like that". The owners of Club Tropicana have since offered Maddie an "unreserved apology" for the "st

Apr 15, 2026 → Apr 15, 2026