Young people from Salford looking forward to The Warehouse Project's Boxing Day evening Hacienda party starring David Morales, 808 State, Mike Pickering and Graeme Park, were left furious after being refused entry despite having tickets costing up to £40.
To get entry into the huge party revellers had to have their tickets scanned before showing ID at a further security gate, and when door staff saw a Salford address they were apparently turning people away.
Conor Mannion, from Higher Broughton, was one of those denied entry, and tells the Salford Star that he knows of up to 16 Salford people who had a similar experience
"We got out of the taxi and saw some of our mates walking away but we didn't really know why, and then when we got there another mate came over to us and said they'd just been picked out of the crowd and told `No Salford tonight'" he recalls "My mate's girlfriend got inside as she was on the guest list and she came out and told us that they weren't allowing Salford lads in."
Conor's mum, Catherine, is outraged at the victimisation of Salford people...
"They asked my son where he was from and when he said `Higher Broughton, Salford' they looked at his ID, dragged him out of the queue and said to another security man `Search him'...it beggars belief" she says "At first I was a bit bothered about the money, my son's an apprentice and doesn't earn a lot, but now I think it's the principle and how they were treated. How dare they actually target Salford, I'm up in arms about this.
"My son doesn't take drugs, he doesn't sell drugs, he's just a normal, decent hard working lad" she adds "I'm highly offended that my son has been branded a bad person because he's from Salford. Nowhere did it say, obviously, that if you're from Salford you won't be allowed in, but that's what happened. And we need to make people aware of it."
Salford mums and furious party goers took to The Warehouse Project's Facebook page to air their views too...
"My son and four friends had tickets bought as presents for the above evening...were refused entry...and also had a minibus each way home to Worsley" wrote one mum "This is completely unfair , if you are refusing admission surely you should be refunding the tickets..."
Another lad branded the event organisers and door staff "thieves" and "racists", and their actions "daylight robbery"...
The irony is that The Warehouse Project, run by directors Sacha Lord-Marchionne and Sam Kandel, is actually a company registered in Salford, at Alex House on Chapel Street; while the Fac51 The Hacienda trademark is owned by Salford's Peter Hook (although there's no suggestion that Fac51 The Hacienda was involved in turning Salford people away).
"People from Salford are fuming about this" wrote one mum on The Warehouse Project's page "and won't let it go without challenging it..."
• The Warehouse Project didn't respond to comments on its Facebook page and didn't respond to the Salford Star's questions.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
