'We wanted to make a safe place for disabled people'

Nightclub prides itself on being inclusive, not exclusive

- Emily Braeger

IN a world where disability makes going out problematic, one restaurant turns itself into an inclusive nightclub every week.

It's a safe space with plenty of room for people to dance the night away and meet new people.

Everyone is welcome - as long as they are 18 or over.

And for people like Chris, who has cerebral palsy, it has been revolutionary.

Unable to go to mainstream clubs because they were "too much" but wanting to socialise like any person in their 20s, he tried Blaze when it was launched 14 years ago.

He met his fiancée at the bar there and later landed a job at the venue La Quinta Restaurant in Benfleet, Essex.

Chris, 38, who has a stammer and struggles with confidence, said of the Thursday club nights: "I come every week and have done since the very beginning.

"It's not like other nightclubs it's welhere coming, there's friendly a atmosphere and judgement." His partner Faye, 32, who no became disabled when she fell off a horse at the age of 10, said: "It gets us out and socialising with other people.