A group of female friends claim they were turned down from entering a nightclub because they were ‘too black’.
The 11 friends from Luton, Bedfordshire, travelled more than 100 miles for a birthday night out at Bambu Bar, in Birmingham city centre, last Saturday.But the women claim bouncers would not let ‘groups of black people in “because there would be too many in the club”.
Bambu Bar said it ‘strenuously denied’ the allegations.
Mother-of-two Jess Gregory, who organised the weekend away, said security staff told her two of her friends ‘could probably’ get into the nightspot because they had lighter skin
Ms Gregory, 26, said:
‘We took taxis to Bambu and queued, but when we got to the door the woman said we were not on the guest list.
‘She looked us up and down and she kept saying “no, no you are not on the list” and then said “I think you need to leave the queue”We had made a booking. The manager came out and he said he could not overrule what the woman had said.’He pointed to two of the lighter skinned girls who were with us and said they could probably get in.’Then another friend spoke to the doorman who said there was no point in standing in the queue because they didn’t let groups of black people in as there would be too many in the club.’Basically the rest of us were told we were too black to come in. It was appalling. It was a bit surreal. So we just walked away. We felt offended and it was embarrassing.’
The friends were later allowed in to Mist nightclub across the road but Ms Gregory, a recruitment consultant, said the incident ‘tainted the whole evening’
“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what we did,’ she said. ‘This is a huge issue for black people.’I want other businesses to know there are repercussions to this sort of behaviour, because it is not fair on people – in particular on young people and women especially.’It tells people they are not good enough.’
The row comes weeks after the club was forced to apologise after it turned down Oleta Lee, 24, who applied for a job telling her they needed ‘less Afro Caribbean staff.
