An airline accused of roughhousing a Team GB Paralympian said it is conducting an internal investigation.

The sitting volleyball athlete Claire Harvey, from Rainham, had been returning from the IPC World Athletics Championships in Doha with a shoulder injury on the Qatar Airways flight.

Ms Harvey, who was the captain of the GB Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, was left on the plane for 15 minutes after other travellers left before a steward told her to disembark.

The former Hillyfields Junior School and Rainham Mark Grammar School pupil told the BBC she was forced to use chairs like “monkey bars” to reach the exit when staff failed to provide her with a wheelchair.

When told to move she said “how do you expect me to do that?”, and added: “He started to manhandle me and said I had to get to the front of the plane, bearing in mind I was 49 rows back.

“I was dragging myself to the front of the plane with him behind me pushing me to go faster.”

Once off the plane, Ms Harvey’s wheelchair was waiting for her, but the brakes were damaged and the frame bent. She lost the use of her legs after a spinal cord injury and was competing in the discus and javelin.

A spokeswoman for the airline said: “Qatar Airways is fully committed to providing a five-star service to all passengers. For our passengers with disabilities, we ensure our cabin crew are properly trained to provide appropriate assistance. With regard to this specific incident, we are investigating fully and will respond back to Ms Harvey shortly.

“Qatar Airways is also proud to have been the Official Carrier for the 2015 IPC World Athletics Championships in Doha, transporting more than 1,000 athletes to and from the games, and ran a series of social media campaigns during the games to help raise awareness of para-sports and to showcase the athletes’ incredible performances.”

Now living in Ashford, she has since been in contact with the airline to pursue repairs.

A British Athletics spokesman said: “Three years on from the London 2012 Paralympic Games, we believe that experiences like Claire’s should be the exception rather than the norm. The airline should invest in better training and education for its staff to ensure other disabled people do not have a similar experience.”