Mum wet herself after Vue staff refused to let her use the toilet

A disabled woman has hit out at Vue cinema after she was forced to wet herself when heartless staff refused to let her use their toilet.

Camille James, 36, said she ‘bared her life out’ to four workers at the Vue Acton Park in west London, telling them all about her type 1 diabetes and severe bladder dysfunction.

The mother-of-one thought they were ‘joking’ when they refused again and pointed at a ‘customers only’ sign.

But when she tried to walk around them to the nearby disabled toilet, a security guard blocked her from walking any further.

She was just about to wet herself but managed to make it to her car where she couldn’t hold it any longer.

Camille told Metro.co.uk: ‘I just sat down in my car and started crying. I could not believe what had happened.

‘I felt so degraded by the end of it. I had to go pick up my son smelling of urine.’

Her bladder condition means she often needs to use a toilet within a matter of minutes if it flares up.

This happened when Camille got stuck in traffic on the A40 last Tuesday, and she had no choice but to head to the nearest disabled toilet at the Vue cinema.

She said: ‘Sometimes it’s hard enough having to say you’re disabled and I had to tell four strangers that I have a bladder dysfunction and I was going to wet myself. And I still received no empathy.

‘I told them, ”My car’s parked in your disabled bay with my badge displayed, I really need to use your toilet.”

‘There were two males and two females standing there, none of them were doing anything.

‘Even if they had concerns, one of them could have walked me to the toilet. They could see the toilet from where they were standing.

‘They asked me why I came there and I told them they were the closest toilet to the A40 and they have a disabled bay outside.

‘They’ve let me use the toilet before so why would I go any further?

‘I honestly thought they were joking and went to walk around them and this security guard came out in front to stop me.

‘I told them, “Look, I’m disabled but they said it’s for customers only and pointed at their sign which said so.

‘I said “Yes I know the sign is there but I’ve got bladder problems, I’m diabetic, my bloody sugar is really high right now.

‘I’m on an insulin pump and I held it through my top to show them. I said, “Oh come on, please, you’ve let me use it before, you know I’m a regular customer.

‘But they didn’t say anything. I’m pleading with them and they say why don’t you just go to Costa.

‘I just froze. I couldn’t believe what they were doing. I thought I might be able to make it to Costa, so I walked out but as I reached my car I started to pee myself.’

Camille was so upset she recorded a video of herself explaining what had happened just minutes after.

It’s the first time she has spoken out about some of the horrific experiences she endures on an almost daily basis.

She added: ‘When I walked out I even thought I should have wet myself there in front of them and made them clean it up.

‘But I have self-respect and held it until I got outside. I’m not the sort of person to think like that but that’s how they made me feel.’

Camille says the biggest problem she faces is that her disability is ‘unseen’.

She added: ‘I face is unseen disabilities. I have a disabled badge but I get nasty notes on my car and the rest, because I’m well put together.

‘I’ve got a decent job so I have to look decent all the time. People really need to grasp unseen disabilities because people don’t know what’s going on inside and they don’t know what I’m going through.’

A Vue spokesperson has now apologised and insisted the cinema chain does have a ‘clear policy’ that ensures guests who need to use a toilet can do so.

In a statement, the spokesperson said: ‘The comfort and wellbeing of all of our guests is something we take very seriously and we are extremely disappointed to learn that this experience was not provided.

‘Vue has a clear policy in place that ensures guests who need to use toilet facilities are able to do so, and are looked after with compassion and discretion.

‘We apologise that on this occasion that did not occur and we will address this immediately.’