Punch apologises after Labour's gay pub-goers refused service

Punch Taverns has offered an apology to the Labour party's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) society after staff at a Westminster pub refused to serve them.

The group, which went to the pub carrying a banner following its AGM, complained on Twitter about the behaviour of the manager of the Greencoat Boy.

The tweet read: "Manager at the Greencoat Boy near Westminster told members he would have refused the LGBT Labour booking if he'd known it was an LGBT group!"

LGBT Labour said police arrived at 6.30pm and took statements from three of the group's 50-60 members.

Punch Taverns said it "apologised unreservedly" for the incident which left it "shocked and saddened".

"We are co-operating fully with the police and plan to meet with the Labour LGBT group to discuss how we can work together to further improve our policies and procedures," it said.

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By Neil Gerrard

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