A young woman who suffers from a severe digestive condition was told she would need to pay for a doctor’s note to be able to take her own food to a family festival.

Lily Smith, of Featherby Road, Gillingham, won a ticket for Big Day Out at Mote Park in Maidstone, taking place this weekend.

When going to gigs and other events, Miss Smith usually contacts the organisers to explain she has coeliac disease and gets written permission to take her own food into the venue.

The 20-year-old has been to Wembley and the O2 arena and it has never caused a problem.

But when she contacted Big Day Out she was told she would need to supply a doctors’s note as proof, which would cost her £35.

She said: “It feels like discrimination against my disease. It is a really bad attitude.

“On top of this, I messaged their Facebook page to say that I wasn’t happy that I would need to pay for a doctor’s note. They read my message and then blocked me so I couldn’t send any more.”

Coeliac disease is a digestive condition which causes an adverse reaction to gluten.

Sufferers cannot eat the sorts of food usually on offer at gigs and festivals such as burgers, hot dogs and crisps.

Miss Smith, who was diagnosed three years ago, has a severe form of the disease and cannot eat or drink anything may have been cross-contaminated.

She usually takes a drink and a small bit of food when she goes to venues, after getting written permission from the organisers.

She did this when she saw Busted at the O2 in May, and in July she is seeing Beyonce at Wembley and already has an email which she can print off or show to door staff on her phone.

She said: “If it isn’t a problem for big venues such as the O2, why is it for Big Day Out?

“Having gluten would make me quite ill. The affects can last for up to five days. I can’t have even just a tiny bit.”

After being contacted by the Medway Messenger the organisers emailed Miss Smith to say she would not need a doctors note and she could instead fill out a medical exception form in advance.

But Miss Smith will not need to, as she has decided not to go to the festival which says it is family-friendly and will feature acts such as Chas and Dave, the Lightning Seeds and Union J.

She said: “I won’t be going because of the way they have treated me.”

The organisers have not responded to the Messenger’s request for a comment.