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No room at the inn for injured soldier

Thu Sep 04 02:38PM

A British soldier on leave after being injured in Afghanistan has been refused a room in a Surrey hotel just because he is in the army.

The BBC has reported that Corporal Tomos Stringer, 23, from Gwynedd in Wales, was visiting an injured friend near Woking when he was turned away from the Metro Hotel.

Corporal Stringer, of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment, was asked to provide a form of identification to book the room and when he presented his military pass he was told that it was management policy not to accept Armed Forces as guests.

Stringer, who injured his wrist falling out of a truck while coming under fire in Afghanistan, was forced to spend the night in his car.

He has now returned to Afghanistan but his mother, Gaynor Stringer, was so upset over the way he was treated by the hotel she wrote to MP Hywel Williams.

Mrs Stringer has also voiced her disappointment over how soldiers are treated in Britain compared to in the United States.

"We've been to America and their military get treated like heroes over there. I think it's terrible they [UK Armed Forces] can't even wear their uniform with pride."

Police were called to the hotel Thursday after the hotel's management claimed it had been receiving threatening and abusive phone calls.

A spokesman for Surrey police said: "Officers were called to the scene because of claims of abusive, offensive and threatening phone calls towards the Metro Hotel. We will monitor the calls to see if an offence has occured, if it has then we can trace the calls and further action will be taken."

The Metro Hotel, which is owned by American Amusements Ltd, has issued an apologetic statement saying the incident "was a mistake".

Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth has written to the Metro Hotel management demanding a more detailed explanation.

Comments61 - 70 of 1350

The issue here is not whether or not the military action in Afgahnistan or Iraq can be politically justified, but that our soldiers are doing to job their government is asking of them and should not be penalised for doing so.

From toopb28 on Thu Sep 04 03:19PM
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isnt this a form of discimination? the hotel should be brought up on charges, they are an absoloute disgrace, i hope the hotel suffers finacially as this appears to be the only place you can hit them. Why is it so hard for some to support the forces, they fight on our behalf and do a fantastic job in some horrendous conditions

From shining_nite1 on Thu Sep 04 03:21PM
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I was in the hotel trade for over forty years,both here and France, I NEVER had any problems with service personnel or their families. Of course there are the odd ones who give a few problems to some. There is no excuse to turn this away a young man for him to sleep in his car overnight. I for one will not stay in this hotel.
It is a disgrace that our personnel are victimized in any way

From taffmorgan on Thu Sep 04 03:22PM
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Where are you Metro spokesman?
This man and all his colleagues deserve an apology. If anything you should have given a discount rate to such hero's.
I think this is a absolute disgrace and will boycott your business and ask everyone i know to do the same.

From skydivepete2003 on Thu Sep 04 03:22PM
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Absolutely bloody outrageous! Definitely boycott the Metro everyone. And let's all support Mrs Stringer's efforts in having something done by MP Hywel Williams. God help this country if this is the way our soldiers can be treated - not by an individual, but by an establishment!

From nbird9 on Thu Sep 04 03:22PM
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Another example of our spinelessness. If this guy had been a terrorist he would have been given the royal suite. It's time we stood up to this behaviour and make sure places like this go out of business.

From cakeyspig on Thu Sep 04 03:22PM
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Who does the Metro group hotel belong to? It would be a great help if someone could find this out, We could then get in touch with the owners to find out is this was company policy, Or some upstart who works for the Metro Hotel.
What a way to treat a solders.
Mick from Guildford

From vauxall2004 on Thu Sep 04 03:23PM
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I'm not a big fan of any of the Bush-led wars,but for a hotel to discriminate against someone who put themselves in danger in the country's interest-whatever the rights or wrongs-is simply incomprehensible. Publicise the hotel's action and then boycott it.

From johnnyaharte on Thu Sep 04 03:23PM
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Its typical of society today, I left the Army 14 years ago, injured and now registerd disabled, and have had little to no help in finding work and only managed to work 2 years out of the past 14.
Lets hope some troops home on leave have a jolly in that hotel's bar one evening.

From hootch732 on Thu Sep 04 03:23PM
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as someone who has worked as a private security consultant in Iraq and Pakistan, I think we owe a debt of gratitude to these guys, the would not have been allowed to refuse him for being Black, Asian, Homo@#$%ual so this is surely blatant discrimination, Boycott the Metro Hotel chain

From iainthefish on Thu Sep 04 03:23PM
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