EXCLUSIVE By Patrick Hill

Last updated 11:53, Wednesday, 07 May 2008

A Rastafarian student has been banned from Carlisle clubs and bars because she wears a hat as part of her religion.

Aisha Brown

Aisha Brown, 20, is turned away from Carlisle night spots every week because of a strict clubland dresscode forbidding headgear which could help disguise the identity of the wearer.

Rasta women – known as Queens – are expected to keep their head covered in public at all times. They are not allowed to cut their hair, wear make-up, dress in revealing clothes or eat on Fridays.

Aisha, who was brought up as a Rastafarian by her parents Elaine and Levi, came to Carlisle from Coventry last September to study Dance and Musical Theatre at the University of Cumbria. She now lives in the halls of residence on Brampton Road.

Two Botchergate bars – Terminal One and Walkabout – have now relaxed the ban on her hat, but Lloyds No1 Bar, also on Botchergate, has insisted she will not be allowed in wearing it.

Aisha said: “I love to go out on the town but I get refused entry to places on Botchergate all the time, like every week. I don’t think a Muslim wanting to go into a pub or club would face the same situation.

“Some of the door staff are nice and let me in, but others just refuse. I try to explain but they just say things like ‘I don’t care. You're not coming in’.

“It’s ten years behind everywhere else in the country – it’s mad.

“I've even had door staff say stuff like ‘let me touch your hat or you're not coming in’. It’s embarrassing.

“I never had this problem in Coventry because it’s a much more multi-cultural place."

Lloyds No1 Bar manager Stuart Hill said: “We have a no hats, caps or beanies allowed rule due to the cameras not being able to identify the faces of the customers when wearing them. In my experience things like age and ethnicity don’t matter as it’s strict company policy.”

Terminal One said it changed it’s policy on headgear three weeks ago, while a Walkabout spokesman said that although the bar does have a no headgear policy, it is willing to make an exception for Aisha.

Terminal One general manager James Mackie said: “I actually changed the ruling when I took over three weeks ago. Before that hats weren’t allowed because of issues with CCTV but that has now changed.

“I feel we have adequate CCTV from enough angles to always identify faces.

“I’ve also changed the ruling because they’re a fashion accessory. We wouldn’t knock David Beckham back if he came in with a cap on so I don’t think we should stop anyone else.”

Walkabout spokesman Matt de Leon said: “Although we do operate a ‘no head gear’ policy at all of our bars, there are some situations where this policy is relaxed, and this is one such situation. We are more than happy for Aisha to visit the bar while having her head covered, and our door staff are aware of this.”