A new mum claims she was turned away from a Folkestone gym because she was breastfeeding her baby outside.

But Dynamix Leisure in Firs Lane says Diane McCaffrey was asked to leave because she was in an area for gym members only where there has been trouble with anti-social behaviour.

Miss McCaffrey, 33, was feeding her six-week-old son Jacob outside the gym in Cheriton while her fiance was shopping in The Range.

She decided to sit on a bench outside the gym rather than in their car because of the heat during the afternoon of Saturday, August 8.

Unaware it was private property, Miss McCaffrey said she was upset she was asked by a female member of staff to move away with Jacob, who is her first child, because she could not leave as he was still feeding.

She said: “I was sitting on a bench and there was no one walking past.

“It was by the entrance but I didn’t realise it was private.”

“I said I’m not doing any harm just feeding my son. I was not smoking or drinking.

“When I refused, she sent out a man-mountain.”

"It just left me feeling really terrible,” Miss McCaffrey said. “I had Jacob on my breast at the time and so I can’t just whip him off" - Diane McCaffrey

Miss McCaffrey said the member of staff came back out with the man.

“It just left me feeling really terrible,” Miss McCaffrey said. “I had Jacob on my breast at the time and so I can’t just whip him off. It was the aggressive nature that got me. We didn’t realise we couldn’t be there.”

Spokesman for Dynamix Leisure, Kia Krzyszka, said: “A lady was seen leaving her car from The Range car park and came and sat on a table and chairs which we provide for members.

“A member of staff politely asked if she could help. The lady’s reply was ‘no I am fine’.

“The staff member replied this is a private area for gym members only.

“The lady then replied 'I am just feeding my baby and unless you are going to physically remove me I am not moving'.”

He added they would have welcomed Miss McCaffrey and her son into the cafe had the situation been defused quicker.

Miss McCaffrey says she is now more sympathetic towards campaigns supporting people breastfeeding in public.

She said: “I always supported them and up until very recently you could open The Sun and see breasts, but put a baby there and it’s unacceptable.

“It’s not an easy thing to do. Giving them a formula bottle is much easier but having the worry of ‘can I do it on this bench, in this restaurant’ you sometimes feel you’re stuck in your home.”

She said she covers up for this reason to avoid making a scene.

Mr Krzyszka added: “The member of staff was not heavy-handed. She was about five metres away under the entrance and just spoke to the lady which is on CCTV.

“I said there was no problem with her feeding her baby, it’s just she was seen coming from The Range, at which point we had no idea she was feeding a baby, so we wanted to know what she was doing due to the issues we have had with people parking and smoking on our property.

“I think the lady was highly sensitive to the situation, due to the way she has been made to feel when breastfeeding, so has become very defensive, which I can totally understand, but her claims are not correct.”