A former Glasgow councillor has slammed a top retailer for refusing a disabled customer access to a suitable toilet.

Staff at the Forge branch of Marks and Spencer told an elderly customer that he would have to go to another store to find a toilet for his disabled relative.

Former Labour councillor Hanzala Malik was visiting the store on Tuesday when he noticed the disabled toilet had been blocked off.

Mr Malik then witnessed a customer complaining to a member of staff about being unable to take their disabled relative to the bathroom.

A security guard told the customer that they would have to go to the nearby Tesco in order to find a suitable bathroom.

Mr Malik said: “I noticed that the toilet wasn’t available for public use but didn’t think anything of it because I didn’t need to use it.

“But I later saw an elderly man approach the security guard to ask to use it.  “The guard told him that they didn’t have a disabled toilet on the premises which was a lie.

“He was told to use the Tesco toilet instead which is quite a distance away.  “To expect a disabled person to make that journey is very unreasonable.

“I said to the guard that there is a disabled toilet in the back of the shop but he just said the elderly gentleman would have to go elsewhere.

“The toilet exists, and I’m sure it would have been in their planning permission, but people are unable to use it because staff decided to put stock in front of it. My heart went out to the couple.

“I’m not sure if it’s just because of the busy time of year – maybe they didn’t have time or staff to service the toilet.

“A lot of people don’t make an issue because they are embarrassed.  “Us Scots are often too quick to dismiss something they have an  issue with and instead would be standing there with their legs crossed.”

As part of the Scottish Government’s building standards guidance, every building must be designed and constructed in such a way that sanitary facilities are provided for all occupants of, and visitors to, the building.

This must be done in a way which allows convenience of use and that there is no threat to the health and safety of occupants and visitors.

“They could potentially be going against regulation,” Mr Malik added.

An Marks and Spencer spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for how this was handled and the temporary closure of our toilets, this was due to an ongoing plumbing issue which we’re working hard to resolve.”