Dickens Inn urged to 'get with the times' as chef claims he was asked to leave due to neck tattoo

A Tesside chef is urging a pub to “get with the times” after he claims he was turned away for having a tattoo.

Jay Leadbeater said he has been asked to leave The Dickens Inn in Southfield Road, Middlesbrough, “numerous times” due to his tattoo.

It comes after Andrew Dawson, a dad from Middlesbrough, claimed he had been turned away from the pub also due to his body artwork.

The pub has told the Gazette it has no tattoo policy.

Mr Leadbeater, 31, from Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough, said: “I’m not a violent person. I have a professional job and I work hard. I feel discriminated against when this keeps happened.

“In this day an age pubs shouldn’t be doing this. So many people have tattoos now. They need to get with the times.

“I do have a lot of tattoos but so do a lot of people. It doesn’t make us troublemakers.”

Mr Leadbeater, head chef at Central Park, in Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, said the most recent incident happened last weekend.

He said: “I went out with friends and I walked straight in the bar, passed most of the bouncers, when I got the bar I got a whack on my back and asked to leave.

I asked why and he said ‘no neck tattoos’.

“I then left and so did the friends I was with. It’s really annoying and I just don’t agree that that should be allowed.

“It is starting to ruin my nights out.”

The Dickens Inn on Southfield Road, Middlesbrough

Pub manager Darren Solomon told the Gazette that there is no tattoo policy in place at the pub and asked Mr Leadbeater to talk to him about the claims.

Mr Solomon said: “I would ask him to speak to me. We don’t have a tattoo policy but we do have a smart dress code.

“All we want to do is make a safe environment for people to drink and socialise in.

“Once I know the facts of this I will find out more from my door staff.”

In January Andrew Dawson was celebrating his birthday in the town when he said he was refused entry to The Dickens Inn.

The 39-year-old claims he was told that he couldn’t go into the pub because a tattoo on his neck - of praying hands - was visible.

The dad-of-six from Marton said at the time: “I was stunned.

“I felt totally judged and discriminated against because of how I looked or what was on my skin.

“I wasn’t drunk or being loud. My party and myself were all smartly dressed. It put a huge dampener on our evening.”