A relaxing weekend of cream teas and strolls amid the rolling hills of North Devon beckoned. What David Allard and Bryn Hughes did not expect to find in the idyllic countryside was homophobia.

Arriving at the award-winning Pine Lodge guest house' the couple explained that they had reserved a double room and were looking forward to discovering the surrounding West Lyn Valley. The response was curt: gay men were not welcome.

Such discrimination is still not illegal and is far from rare. The problem runs so deep that VisitBritain has drawn up a code of conduct for affiliated hotels and guest houses that explicitly bans what has come to be called "hotel homophobia".

And while tourism industry leaders market the UK as gay-friendly' they are receiving more and more complaints from couples who have been turned away from hotels and b&bs.

Pine Lodge' in Lynton' is run by Malcolm and Pat Davies' and has four stars from the AA and the English Tourism Council' which also bestowed a Silver Award upon it.

Mr Allard' 37' said Mrs Davies was shocked when she realised that he and Mr Hughes were gay. "She said we should have told them we were gay so they could warn the other guests - it would upset them." Mr Davies told the men: "I won't have two men sharing a bed. This is my house."

Mr Allard said they felt "knocked sideways"' and found accommodation elsewhere.

When The Independent on Sunday asked for an explanation' Mrs Davies referred us to a solicitor' who said' "... this matter has been dealt with in a robust and professional manner by the appropriate bodies and a line drawn under it."

Michael Cashman' the Labour MEP and former EastEnders actor' said he and his partner' Paul' had once been refused a double room at a hotel in Leeds. "When Paul turned up' the woman at reception said: 'Oh my God' it's a double bed.' If I hadn't been so determined' they would have thrown us out."

The writer and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig had a similar experience. At a Glasgow hotel' she and her partner were told it was illegal for them to share a double room. They demanded to know which law forbade them sleeping together. The hotel relented.

Courtesy of the Independent on Sunday full story