A CITY centre clothes shop has denied telling a group of special needs students they weren't allowed to enter the store.

Alannah Morton has demanded Topshop clarifies its store policy after her brother Reece Morton, who has autism and ADHD, and other students were allegedly asked not to enter the Cathedral Square store.

Accompanied by teachers and in some cases, parents, the Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW) students were tasked with comparing clothing prices at Primark, Marks & Spencer and Topshop on Tuesday (January 22).

Alannah has accused Topshop of asking the students to leave because the pupils have special needs, but a spokesman for the fashion retailer said this was not the case.

The spokesman said the students were simply asked to “stop their activity” but at “no point during their visit were they asked to leave”.

In a Facebook post, Alannah said: “I do not understand how children with learning difficulties, who were only on a trip in town learning everyday traits, could have affected them [Topshop] in anyway.

“They were in little groups, it was a quiet day and they all had responsible qualified teachers with them.”

Reece, 21, was the first to go into Topshop with his mum and a teacher, but was quickly asked to leave, according to Alannah, 22.

“As my brother, mom and teacher got to Topshop they were asked what they were doing [by a store assistant] and they explained, and the teacher also explained there may also be a few more special needs children coming,” she explained.

Alannah said the teacher made it clear to the employee that the students would not be entering altogether but was allegedly told that the pupils being in the store in the circumstances was against its policy.

Alannah said her mum told her the store assistant was apologetic and was simply following directions from her manager, who was not in store at the time but who she’d spoken to on the phone.

However, it was never made clear how they were breaking store policy.

They were allegedly told: “You can’t do it today, but you can go on the website.”

Alannah said her mum was “appalled” by the incident, but they agreed to leave without a fuss.

She said, luckily, Reece did not understand the situation but he and his family, from Worcester, have “to deal people judging him all the time”.

“All students were over 18 and some had mums with them. Basically, they didn’t want them in the shop. My mother was appalled by the situation,” Alannah added.

Alannah said her mum told her Primark and M&S were more than happy for the groups to go inside and complete their research – even helping them out.

She said they could have easily done the research online but that wasn’t the point – it was about getting out of the classroom.

HoW did not wish to comment on the matter.

A Topshop spokesman said: “Topshop does not discriminate on any grounds - everyone is welcome to visit our stores.

"Students from Heart of Worcestershire College visited the Topshop store as part of their project. They were politely asked to stop their activity and we apologise if any of the students felt unwelcome as a result of this.

"We would like to clarify that at no point during their visit were they asked to leave the store.”