A Manchester pub, owned by the JD Wetherspoons franchise, allegedly refused a gay couple entry as they were only allowing “mixed couples”.

23 year-old, Joshua Fox and his partner say they were turned away by doormen at The Moon Under Water pub, owned by JD Wetherspoons, because of their sexual orientation.

Fox told Manchester Evening News, “The doorman stopped us to check our ID, then said ‘mixed couples only tonight’ and refused to let us in. It was quite shocking really.

“I was staying in a flat near the pub and go in there all the time. I’m surprised they didn’t recognise me to be honest.”

In a letter to Joshua Fox, a spokesperson for JDs Wetherspoon, who recently opened pubs in Ireland, denied that the couple were refused entry based on their sexual orientation.

“Parties of a single sex may be refused entry in order to maintain a balanced and pleasant environment for all customers,” said the letter. “This is based on some experiences in which the atmosphere in our pubs has been spoiled due to an unbalanced ratio between men and women.

“I appreciate that you feel that this action was unjust and please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this caused you. Wetherspoon is proud of the fact that its pubs welcome a cross section of customers.

“We have discussed the incident with the manager who in turn has spoken with door staff and they are adamant that they did not mention the fact relating to mixed couples. We appreciate that this was an upsetting situation for the man involved, however, we reiterate that there was no discrimination towards him.

“We see from his blog that he was a fan of Wetherspoon pubs and hope that he will return to the pub in due course.”

However, Fox tweeted his disappointment with the events and swore that he would not return to the pub.