A 72-YEAR-OLD man claims he was "humiliated" after being barred from a Wetherspoon pub in Petts Wood for complaining about customer service.

George Ralph dropped in to the Sovereign of the Seas pub, Queensway, for a pint at around 2pm.

He said: "I was standing at the bar with his guy who was fuming at being unable to get service.

"We waited for ten more minutes until the manager came out of the kitchen, and we complained to him about the delay.

"I said 'I have been waiting here for ten minutes and this gentleman has been waiting for even longer'.

"He reacted with hostility, saying 'you should be patient', saying I was threatening him, which was untrue, and I should go elsewhere.

"I felt humiliated.

"When I went back on Thursday he told me to leave. He told me to apologise to the girls, so I said 'I'm sorry I complained about the poor service', which didn't go down very well."

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Nearly every afternoon for the past five years Mr Ralph has enjoyed an afternoon drink and read a paper at the Sovereign of the Seas.

He visits the pub as he travels from Petts Wood to his home in Hawthorne Road, Bickley, as the R7 bus he gets runs every hour.

The former architect said: "I get the bus down, go to the shops, then I can have a pint and read the paper while I wait for my bus. It's better than waiting at the bus stop.

"I think they really have to do something about the service.

"In 2001 I went to a Wetherspoon pub where a retired gentleman ordered four pints of beer on a tray to avoid the difficulty in getting service at the bar.

"In all these years nothing has changed.

"I can't understand what has happened. Maybe if I had been smoking pot or something I would understand it."

A spokesman for Wetherspoon said: "The gentleman was asked to leave for being abusive and threatening to staff.

"He is not welcome back into the pub.

"We back our manager 100 per cent in his decision."