Pub bars grandmother for wearing beret

A grandmother was barred from a pub after she refused to take off her purple beret.

Shirley Phelan, 77, had gone for lunch with her daughter at the Prince Alfred, which has been in Bayswater since the 19th century and has recently had a gastro pub-style refurbishment.

The beret was a Christmas present from one of her grandchildren. "When we went in, one bar girl shouted to another not to serve us unless I take my beret off," said Mrs Phelan, who was on crutches after a hip operation.

"There was no sign anywhere saying no hats' and I couldn't understand why they wouldn't let me keep my hat on. They should be able to use discretion for someone my age. I don't think I look like a terrorist."

A spokesman for Glendola Leisure Group said the policy was "for customers' safety and security to ensure that clear CCTV images can be obtained if necessary".

Mrs Phelan, who lives in Bayswater, was an apprentice to Sir Norman Hartnell, the dressmaker to the Queen, in the Fifties and worked as a clerk in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Marylebone before retiring aged 70.

Her daughter Maria said: "I never thought that at 55 I would be thrown out of a pub with my 77-year-old mother because of a beret."