Brothers, aged 8 and 11, refused children's meals at restaurant for being 'too tall'

Michael Hogg had taken his sons Matthew, eight, and Adam to a Chinese eaterie to celebrate Adam's eleventh birthday with two of their young friends.

But he was amazed 4ft 7in Matthew and 5ft Adam were barred from getting kiddies portions because the pair were 'too tall'.

Instead, the father of three was told to pay for five adult meals by bosses at Shanghai Shanghai restaurant in Carlisle.

He said: 'We were shown to our table, which could have been anywhere because there were only two other families in there and as we got  up to go to the buffet, the serving assistant said it would be five adults to pay for.

Too tall: Brothers Adam, 11, and Matthew Hogg, 8, with their two-year-old sister Rosie

"They are in primary school so how can you class them as adults? My 11-year-old  is quite tall but he's still a child.

'Obviously, I was astounded and expressed my astonishment. Politely, I stated  that there must be some mistake as the boys' ages ranged from eight to 11.

'This conversation went on for a couple of minutes until the manager came along and said the boys were tall and therefore must pay for adult prices.

'How ridiculous. The argument was not going to be won by me so I pointed out to  the boys that the money was not an issue but as a principle I refused for them to be discriminated against because of their height.

'Every time we look at a newspaper or watch the news we find stories of discrimination, many of which appear to many to be unbelievable and go against  the theory of our democratic state.

'The boys were as disgusted as me so we headed off elsewhere and will not be  back at this establishment again.'

Mr Hogg, from Langholm just over the border in Scotland, added: 'What I was told as I was leaving the restaurant was that  everyone based it on height. It's extraordinary and I've never come across it  before.

Restaurant manager Allen Liu said their policy was that any children under 4ft 11ins would pay the children's price but any child taller than that would pay the adult price for their meals - age made no difference.