Amy's Hereford film ordeal

8:00am Monday 11th August 2008

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A WHEELCHAIR-bound schoolgirl is planning a protest after being forced to crawl up stairs at Hereford’s Odeon cinema because there was no disabled access.

The humiliating experience has meant 15-yearold Amy Clements, who was born with spina bifida, now has to spend her summer holidays travelling to Worcester or Gloucester if she wants to catch the latest big screen releases.

Friends and relatives of the Bishop’s school pupil will next week call on Odeon to install wheelchair- friendly ramps and lifts during a protest outside the Commercial Road building.

But the cinema chain has admitted it is currently ‘not feasible’ to provide such facilities.

The protesting group’s frustration dates back to when Amy and friends were queueing to watch the St Trinian’s movie.

Staff told the group there was no wheelchair access and that she would have to enter through a side door and then climb the stairs.

Amy, from Saxon Gate, off Ross Road, reluctantly agreed to this, but says never again.

“It was my first visit to the Hereford cinema and it was horrible. I had to crawl up the stairs and then to my seat with other cinemagoers walking around me,” she said.

“One of my friends offered to carry me up but I wasn’t going to let her do that.

“It’s not fair. I have friends who are also in wheelchairs and I think the cinema should definitely have wheelchair access.”

Dad Steve said his daughter is now faced with a 50- mile round trip to a wheelchair- friendly venue.

“It’s really frustrating and was so humiliating for Amy. No-one should have to go through that. We’ve since had to go to either Worcester or Gloucester to watch films.”

Odeon said in a statement released to the Hereford Times: “After a full inspection, Odeon regrets that it is not feasible at present to include facilities (at Hereford) providing access for people in wheelchairs.”

Jim Lawes, president of Hereford’s Access For All scheme, said the response does not surprise him.

“It’s just one more form of discrimination,” he said. “I feel a lot of sympathy for the girl. We’ve been campaigning for wheelchair access at the cinema for years now but it’s one of those situations where we can’t do anything about it.”

Amy and her friends are planning to protest outside the Odeon cinema on Commercial Road on Thursday morning.

Odeon is the largest cinema chain in the UK, with more than 100 cinemas which account for nearly a third of all tickets sold.

Laura Moss, Odeon press officer, said she could not discuss the firm’s profits for the past year as it was a private equity company.

But the Odeon’s website shows the cinema chain, which is now part of the Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group, saw revenues from tickets and other retail sales rise 8% in 2007 to £517 million. The Dark Knight, the Batman film showing at Hereford’s Odeon, took £11 million in its first weekend in cinemas across the UK.