Train Staff 'Made Disabled Comedian Move For Woman With Pushchair'

A disabled comedian was left in tears after staff on a train made her move her mobility scooter from a disabled space to make room for a woman with a pram, even though she was there first.

Apparently Tanyalee Davis was told to fold up her mobility scooter, with no one suggesting that the pram could have been folded instead.

The situation escalated, to the point that a Great Western Railway staff member reportedly called the police and told her she was holding up the train for all the other passengers.

Twitter - Tanyalee Davis

The 47-year-old comedian, who has appeared on shows like Live at the Apollo and The Last Leg, is 3ft 6in tall, so relies on a mobility scooter to get around.

She had been headlining a gig at a comedy club in Plymouth that evening, and was on the train back to London Paddington.

She parked her scooter up in the disabled section of the first class carriage and her partner Kevin Bolden, who was with her, sat in an unreserved seat.

A woman then boarded the train further down the line and started insisting that Tanyalee and Kevin needed to move.

"A woman got on and there was all this commotion," she said, with the mum telling Kevin he needed to get out of 'her' seat (remember, it's unreserved).

"She kicked up a fit. She had to have that space. It all got escalated and he [train staff[ said 'fine, I'm calling the police'."

BBC - Live at the Apollo

The train was then held at Taunton, with the staff member apparently making an announcement to the entire train that Tanyalee was holding up the train's progress 'indefinitely'.

She said she was made to feel 'shamed' and 'embarrassed' and blamed for a 20-minute delay which caused passengers, including herself, to miss their connections. She said she cried for the rest of the journey home.

In a video posted to her YouTube channel, Tanyalee said: "I am not looking for this train guard to be sacked. That's the last thing I want. I couldn't live with myself if somebody lost their livelihood because of an incident I was involved in.

Twitter - Tanyalee Davis

"This has been going on for years. I have been working in the UK for 15 years and I have been running into non-stop situations like this."

Tanyalee is also on the board of directors of Gr8 As U R, a kindness campaign that works with young disabled people to build up their self-confidence.

Dan Panes, from GWR, told the BBC: "We got it wrong, it made no sense. A wheelchair space is a wheelchair space, it's not for luggage or pushchairs.

"The priority is really clear. Tanyalee should not have been asked to move."

Topics: UK News, News, Trains, comedian, London

Daisy Jackson

Daisy Jackson is a freelance writer, who has previously worked at Shortlist Media and Trinity Mirror. She has written about the Manchester terror attacks and appeared on BBC Five live to discuss the aftermath, as well as interviewing an orthopaedic surgeon in Syria.