Heavily-pregnant woman was forced to stand on a train for 30 minutes when a businessman would not give up the seat she reserved.

A heavily-pregnant woman was forced to stand on a train for 30 minutes when a businessman would not give up the seat she reserved.

Mhari-Claire Doolan, who is 34 weeks pregnant with her first child, boarded the train from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly around 5.30pm on August 26.

The 29-year-old showed the man her ticket, which had proof of her reservation on, but claimed he then 'laughed in her face' and refused to move until he got to his stop.

Ms Doolan, from Manchester, said she was left embarrassed and concerned she would have to stand for the entire hour-and-a-half journey.

Photo of the pregnant woman and her partner. 

The recruitment manager said: 'I was already tired and in pain and to be honest I'm so heavily pregnant I should probably not be travelling by train, so I made sure I had a seat booked.

'I told him I had that seat booked and positioned myself so that he could see I was pregnant but he just ignored me.

'The electronic booking system had broken so I showed him my ticket. He looked at it and then just laughed in my face and turned away.

'I was left standing for more than half an hour, which was almost unbearable but I didn't want to ask for someone else's seat and get laughed at again.

'My back ached, my feet ached and I felt sick. I was in a lot of pain but luckily a seat eventually came free.'

She added that she was angered by the other passengers, who chose not to do anything.

She said: 'No one did anything to help or intervene and no one offered me their seat. People just averted their eyes and pretended they hadn't seen it.'

Ms Doolan later asked a ticket inspector whether she had been in the wrong, but he confirmed the man most likely removed her paper reservation from the top of the seat.

She added: 'I always thought it was an unspoken rule that you give up your seat for pregnant ladies or you allow them to get on the train first. It's just polite.

But everyone just pushed me out of the way to get on the train and this man just laughed in my face when I said I had reserved the seat - maybe this is how people travel now?

'My mum would be angry with me if she ever saw me treating people like that.

'My boyfriend Dan was very angry about it. He was fuming that this man could do this to me.'

CrossCountry, which operates between Manchester and Birmingham, does not have a specific travel policy for pregnant mothers but said it offers 'Journey Care' to those that need help with luggage and getting on and off trains.

A spokesman for the company said: 'We would expect our customers to be polite and courteous to their fellow passengers and are disappointed to learn of her experience during her journey with us.

'In such circumstances we would always encourage customers to contact the Train Manager, who would be happy to assist. 

'If they are unable to offer a customer their original seat then they will do their best to find alternative seating on the train.

'Clearly Ms Doolan's journey was not to the standard we would have expected and we would ask her to contact us so that we can discuss the circumstances, especially as she is entitled to compensation for our being unable to provide the seat she reserved.'

MailOnline.