Cafe owner bans babies for crying

Mr Incorvaja told the group of mothers they were not welcome

A Brighton businessman has been accused of rudeness after banning a group of young mothers from bringing their crying babies into his cafe.

Francis Incorvaja told the women they were not welcome because of the noise made by some of their children.

The owner of the Rotunda Cafe in Preston Park said he made the comment after other customers walked out.

But mother Alexine Young said the youngsters were well behaved, and the parents were shocked at the decision.

She said the group of about eight mothers visited the cafe because they had taken part in a mother-and-baby exercise class in the park.

"Now, because of our babies, who are actually quite well behaved, we're banned, and we think this is really shocking," she said.

One of them confronted me saying how rude I am ... which I think is more rude than leaving a baby crying Francis Incorvaja

Natalie Heyman said Mr Incorvaja's comments came as they were leaving.

She said: "One of my friends said 'thank you very much' and he said 'thank God you're leaving'.

"I just said 'I beg your pardon, you know, we are customers here', and he said 'no, I'm just sick of it, you lose my business with your crying babies'."

But Mr Incorvaja said: "Customers did walk out.

"The reason I didn't say anything earlier was because I did not wish to embarrass the parents, thinking it will blow over - they will be going soon.

"But on the way out, one of them confronted me saying how rude I am and things like that, which I think is more rude than leaving a baby crying for that length of time."

The group of mothers said they had found another cafe.